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Majority of executives report positive outcomes from EHR use
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About 88% of executives of heath care organizations reported that use of an electronic health record system resulted in a positive outcome, according to a survey from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, or HIMSS.
"Based on the feedback of 52 executives representing an exclusive cohort of health care organizations, the findings from the 2016 HIMSS Value of Health IT Survey paint a generally positive picture surrounding the perceived value derived from employing an electronic (EHR) system," HIMSS wrote in the executive summary. "By leveraging the HIMSS STEPS model to categorize respondent health IT value experiences into one of five generalized areas, the findings of this study uncovered ... notable patterns in health IT value which should inform future considerations."
The survey covered five areas of EHR use: satisfaction, treatment/clinical, electronic information/data, prevention and patient education and savings.
Results showed that executives reported a 29% increase in satisfaction among physicians, compared with 44% among nurses. Most executives cited health IT value examples in the treatment/clinical category, with 83% reporting clinical staff quality performance benefits.
In addition, 58% reported positive impacts in electronic data/information and 81% reported at least one positive savings impact.
Authors of the survey findings acknowledged that prevention and patient education efforts are fairly new and many executives did not report positive impacts in this area.
"This survey evaluates the progress the health care industry has made in deriving value from their health IT investments" Pat Wise, vice president of HIMSS, said in a press release. "The findings illustrate that although many challenges still exist, measuring the impact of the EHR on treatment and clinical areas is happening amongst health care innovators. This survey demonstrates that health IT is creating a positive shift within health care organizations, one that’s deriving quality care and improved outcomes."