Researchers have found no significant relationship between the adoption of electronic health records and subsequent improvements in quality of care and efficiency, according to ModernHealthcare.Led by Catherine DesRoches, assistant professor at the Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital, researchers studied data from more than 2,900 hospitals and found no significant correlation between EHR adoption and performance on quality measures related to myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure or pneumonia. They found only some improvement in prevention of surgical complications.
While their findings were discouraging, the study’s authors said the results could imply that more substantial quality improvements may come with a more comprehensive EHR adoption and interoperability, and they emphasized the need for more long-term study into how health IT systems are being used.
