Financial incentives for use as well as the need to share information with other providers are the biggest reasons why physicians have adopted EHRs, according to a new brief from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT compiled from data from the 2013 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.
Sixty-two percent of physicians mentioned financial incentives after the HITECH Act as a major factor in their decision to adopt an EHR, compared to 29 percent before the act was passed.
More than one-third of all physicians surveyed, either EHR adopters or nonadopters, noted the need to share clinical information with other providers was or would be an important factor in their decision to implement an EHR.
While most physicians have already adopted an EHR for their practices, two in 10 still lack the technology. According to the brief, physicians least likely to have yet adopted an EHR are solo or small-group practitioners. Of those who have not yet adopted an EHR, 46 percent said availability of technical assistance would be vital to their choice to adopt. Of those not planning to adopt an EHR, lack of staffing and time needed to implement the technology were cited by 40 percent of respondents as deterrents.