Providers Make Progress in EHR Adoption, Challenges Remain

Many U.S. hospitals and health care systems are more than halfway along in  their adoption of an electronic health records system, but many are facing  challenges related to demonstrating meaningful use of EHR systems, according to a new poll from consultancy KPMG, Healthcare IT News reports (Miliard, Healthcare IT  News, 4/24).

Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who  demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR systems can qualify for  Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.

Survey Details

KPMG recently surveyed about 250 hospitals and health care systems  participating in a seminar on Stage 1 and 2 of the meaningful use program.

The survey found that 71% of respondents said their organization is more than  50% finished with its EHR adoption.

Confidence in Ability To Meet Stage 1 Criteria

According to the survey:

• 48% of respondents said they were confident in their organization’s  readiness to meet Stage 1 criteria for the meaningful use program;
• 39% said they were somewhat confident in their organization’s readiness to  meet Stage 1 criteria;
• 3% said they had no confidence in their organization’s readiness to meet  Stage 1 criteria; and
• About 10% said they did not know their organization’s level of  readiness.

Challenges to Achieving Stage 1 Compliance

When asked to identify challenges to achieving Stage 1 compliance:

• 25% of respondents cited not understanding Stage 1 requirements;
• 20% cited issues with training and management of organizational changes;
• 18% cited an inability to capture electronic data as part of clinical  workflow;
• 12% cited not having a dedicated meaningful use team; and
• 6% cited not having appropriate certified technology (Goedert, Health Data Management, 4/24).

Source: iHealthBeat

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