Adoption rate for electronic health records is low

Only 14% of all medical group practices use an electronic health record (EHR), according to a study by the Medical Group Management Association Center for Research and the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis. The study of 3,300 medical group practices further revealed that only 11.5% indicated that an EHR was fully implemented for all physicians and at all practices, and more significantly, only 12.5% with five or fewer full-time-equivalent physicians have adopted an EHR.

The study found that 12.7% of groups were in the process of implementing an EHR, 14.2% said implementation is planned in the next year, and 19.8% said implementation was planned in 13 to 24 months.

The study's authors note that while some practices report important efficiency gains from their EHRs, there is widespread dissatisfaction with their design, performance, and cost.