The National Center for Health Statistics has published this data brief reporting results from the 2014 National Electronic Health Records Survey, highlighting the increasing adoption of certified electronic health record (EHR) systems and electronic information sharing by physician practices. As of 2014, over 74% of all physician practices, and nearly 79% of primary care physician practices, had adopted a certified EHR system. There remains considerable regional variation in the rate of adoption of certified EHR systems, ranging from a high of nearly 89% in Minnesota to a low of 59% in Alaska.
In 2014, over 39% of physicians were electronically sharing patient health information with any ambulatory providers or hospitals, but only 26% did so with external providers or unaffiliated hospitals. There also remained regional variations in this rate or electronic sharing of patient information with external providers and unaffiliated hospitals, from a high of nearly 59% in North Dakota to a low of about 18% in New Jersey.
Among all physicians in 2014, roughly 1 in 10 shared patient health information electronically with behavioral health (11%), long-term care (11%), and home health (12%) providers.
The 2014 National Electronic Health Records Survey was conducted from May through October 2014, with a sample of 10,302 physicians designed to produce national and state-based estimates of office-based physicians’ adoption of EHR systems.
Ignatius Bau 