According to a survey by theAmerican College of Physician Executives (ACPE), the percentage of physicians using electronic medical records has nearly doubled in five years. ACPE found that most physicians consider EMRs “clunky” and unresponsive to their needs. The federal $787 billion economic stimulus includes $19 billion for health information technology, including $17 billion in physician incentives to encourage adoption of health information technology. About 1,000 members of the ACPE responded to the survey, which was a repeat of a survey conducted in 2004.
Some of the findings were:
• More than 64 percent of respondents in the 2009 survey said they used electronic medical records, up from 33 percent in 2004.
• About 44 percent said their organization uses computerized order entry, while only about 33 percent used the systems five years ago. Computerized physician order entry systems are electronic prescribing systems that intercept errors when medications are ordered.
• More than 38 percent said they use pharmaceutical bar coding, up from 20 percent in 2004.
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