According to a study on the adoption of Health IT and electronic health record systems (EHR) by healthcare providers across the state, home health agencies come in fourth by “practice type.”
The study conducted by the Massachusetts eHealth Institute (MeHI) shows that 74% of home health agencies have adopted a Health IT system, which places them behind primary care physicians, specialists and Rehab/Therapy, but ahead of skilled nursing facilities and behavioral health providers. The chart below displays MeHI’s results.
Nearly 80 percent of healthcare institutions and practices in Massachusetts report they are using EHRs – and 50 percent of consumers indicated they have used health IT to directly communicate with their health care provider, review test results, renew prescriptions or schedule appointments.
However, according to MeHI, this study confirms that there are medical practice areas in which the benefits of eHealth are penetrating at a rate slower than the statewide total.
MeHI also found that ,of those with an EHR system, most practices and providers are using their EHR for medication reconciliation (81%), quality reporting (81%), electronic prescribing or eRx (76%). A smaller percentage of practices are using their EHRs for clinical decision support rules (64%) and public health reporting (55%).
MeHI recommends state assistance for certain provider groups, including home health agencies, could benefit with accelerating the adoption process.
For more on MeHI and their efforts to guide Health IT adoption, visit mehi.masstech.org.
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