Here are six statistics on the use of electronic medical records by office-based physicians, according to the National Center for Health Statistics' report "Electronic Medical Record Use by Office-based Physicians and Their Practices: United States, 2007."
1. 34.8 percent of office-based physicians reported using any type of EMR (all electronic or partially electronic medical record). This represents a 19.2 increase over 2006 and a 91.2 percent increase since 2001.
2. 11.8 percent of physicians reported using systems that met "basic systems" requirements; only 3.8 percent reported using systems that met "fully functional system" requirements.
3. Physicians in solo practice were least likely to use EMRs (20.6 percent), compared to practices with two physicians (27.4 percent), practices with 3-5 physicians, (31.8 percent), practices with 6-10 physicians (47 percent) and practices with 11 or more physicians (74.3 percent).
4. EMR use did not vary by specialty but did vary by practice ownership. HMO practices were more likely to use EMRs (86.1 percent) than community health center-owned practices (40 percent) or solo and group practices (31.4 percent).
5. Physicians in the West (43.1 percent) were more likely to use EMRs than physicians in Midwest (35.6 percent), South (35.1 percent) and Northeast (24.2 percent).
6. Physicians in metropolitan areas were more likely to use EMRs (87.8 percent) than physicians not in a metropolitan area (12.2 percent).
View the "Electronic Medical Record Use by Office-based Physicians and Their Practices: United States, 2007" report.
1. 34.8 percent of office-based physicians reported using any type of EMR (all electronic or partially electronic medical record). This represents a 19.2 increase over 2006 and a 91.2 percent increase since 2001.
2. 11.8 percent of physicians reported using systems that met "basic systems" requirements; only 3.8 percent reported using systems that met "fully functional system" requirements.
3. Physicians in solo practice were least likely to use EMRs (20.6 percent), compared to practices with two physicians (27.4 percent), practices with 3-5 physicians, (31.8 percent), practices with 6-10 physicians (47 percent) and practices with 11 or more physicians (74.3 percent).
4. EMR use did not vary by specialty but did vary by practice ownership. HMO practices were more likely to use EMRs (86.1 percent) than community health center-owned practices (40 percent) or solo and group practices (31.4 percent).
5. Physicians in the West (43.1 percent) were more likely to use EMRs than physicians in Midwest (35.6 percent), South (35.1 percent) and Northeast (24.2 percent).
6. Physicians in metropolitan areas were more likely to use EMRs (87.8 percent) than physicians not in a metropolitan area (12.2 percent).
View the "Electronic Medical Record Use by Office-based Physicians and Their Practices: United States, 2007" report.