According to a recent study published in the Health Services Research journal, Of all the physicians who used electronic health records in 2011, nearly 75% have derived clinical benefits from the electronic copies of patient medical histories. 3,000 physicians participated in the Physician Workflow Survey, by answering a questionnaire, to share their respective EHR  experiences.

These research findings were announced by Jennifer King, chief of research and evaluation at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and lead author of the study. She declared that physicians who had more practical experience with EHR systems were more likely to report improved clinical outcomes.

“A majority of physicians said they were alerted to a potential medication error or critical lab value, and about one-third reported that EHRs helped them identify needed lab tests or facilitated direct communication with patients,” said King.

In addition to the primary findings, King said that the research could open up more health IT opportunities for physicians. She also suggests that the CMS-designed Meaningful Use Stage 2 program, includes policies to improve the use of EHRs, interoperability and patient data access.

As I pointed out in my recent post, the benefits of Meaningful Use cannot be fully realized until there is complete interoperability between EHRs countrywide. As I see it, if a policy is not helping save patient lives, then, for me, it may be as useless as a white crayon.

However, not all physicians are entirely happy with the way healthcare is moving forward in our country. Some friends that I spoke to about this topic tell me that they literally have to learn about a new acronym, a new policy and a new definition almost every day. It is not enough to just have an EHR these days. A team capable of explaining all the new legislative, corporate and regulatory changes is as mandatory as having a stethoscope. Well, almost.

Then there’s the ICD-10,  which, in about ten months’ time, will bring with it, a multitude of new diagnoses codes. In fact, I have even read about many primary care physicians considering an early retirement, and the number of medical students willing to take their place is shrinking as well. Even my most easygoing and positive physician friends are finding it really difficult to focus on what they do best – which is, care for patients.

Like I’ve mentioned in my previous posts this past week, it is not just about the right EHR solution and the ease of documentation it offers, but it comes down to the improvement in outcomes at the end. If a patient is not able to see a doctor in urgent care scenarios without having to remember his medications, allergies and past diagnoses, then this effort might still be wasted.

But does this mean that we as a nation should be hopeless about the future of healthcare in our country? Definitely not, but we must be concerned. We have not progressed as vigorously as some of the other nations. This research may only be a small glimmer of hope, but benefits of EHR usage can no longer be overlooked. The full potential of these systems will be realized when the learning curve fully sets in, and healthcare technology becomes second nature.