As the meaningful use deadline closes in, more family practitioners are implementing EHR systems. However, physicians' responses are sometimes mixed, according to a new study.
The study, published Jan. 27 in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, surveyed 63 respondents from 27 primary care practices ranging in size, geography, type and population size. The researchers found that EHRs facilitated communication and symptom tracking but suffered in terms of interoperability and ease of patient data tracking. They also reported difficulty in working as a team within a practice.
While the practices adjust throughout the implementation period, the respondents answered that they hoped for more permanent vendor and policy changes to the challenges of using an EHR.
"EHR vendors in the United States need to work alongside practicing primary care teams to create more clinically useful EHRs that support dynamic care plans, integrated care management software, more functional and interoperable practice registries, and greater ease of data tracking over time," the researchers wrote.