IRVINE, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 02/17/10 -- As healthcare providers make preparations to implement EHR solutions and qualify for federal incentives outlined in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, SK&A, A Cegedim Company, today released its updated "Physician Office Usage of Electronic Healthcare Records Software" report, which shows a 36.1% EHR adoption rate in U.S. medical offices -- a 3.2% increase since the February 2009 version of the study.
Like its predecessor study, the latest report identifies physician adoption rates by office size, practice size, practice specialties, patient volume, ownership, geography and other variables. This updated study also measures the level of software functionality available to and being utilized by physicians in medical offices to support the government's newly defined "meaningful use" criteria.
SK&A's study, which was based on completed telephone surveys with 180,000 U.S. physician offices, shows that 36.1% of physician offices are using EHR systems -- a 3.2% increase in usage since the 2009 report's adoption rate of 32.9%. Trends from the study show:
-- Physicians primarily use EHR systems for electronic notes (28.3%), as
opposed to electronic labs/x-rays and electronic prescribing.
-- EHR adoption rates increase as the number of physicians, number of
exam rooms and daily patient volume rise.
-- EHR adoption is more prevalent in hospital- or health system-owned
sites. Hospital-owned and health-system-owned sites have adoption rates
of 44.1% and 50.2%, respectively. On the contrary, non-hospital-owned
and non-health-system-owned sites have adoption rates of 34.4% and
34.2%, respectively.
-- The specialty areas with the highest adoption rates include dialysis,
critical care medicine and radiology. Those specialties with the lowest
adoption rates include allergy/immunology, general surgery and general
practice.
"SK&A is committed to being the leading provider of insight and intelligence on EHR adoption in U.S. medical offices," said Dave Escalante, SK&A Vice President of Data and Information Solutions. "This report series was initiated to satisfy many needs including driving EHR sales and marketing campaigns; understanding physician buying behaviors and preferences; validating market size and opportunity; and understanding regional adoption trends."
"Among the latest users of SK&A's research are hospitals, HMOs and nonprofits applying for recent federal grants such as the HIT Extension Program and the Beacon Community Program," Escalante added.
SK&A's research supports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics' recent findings, which estimate that 43.9% of doctors are using full or partial EHR systems. The statistics are based on a 2009 survey of 5,200 U.S. office-based physician sites. Both studies conclude that significantly more than half of physicians still do not have EHR systems in place.
SK&A's "Physician Office Usage of Electronic Healthcare Records Software" report is a continuing study of all U.S. physician offices. SK&A's third phase of the study, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2010, will identify EHR purchasing decision makers, plans to implement new software or upgrade existing software, planned expenditures, and primary and secondary buying factors.
Editor's Note: For a copy of the summary findings for publication, please contact Jack Schember, SK&A Vice President of Marketing, at 800-752-5478, ext. 1259.
About SK&A, A Cegedim Company
SK&A is a leading provider of healthcare information solutions and research. SK&A researches and maintains contact and profiling information for over two million healthcare practitioners, including 800,000-plus U.S.
prescribers. SK&A also offers the only 100% telephone-verified database of email addresses of prescribers and professionals working at active healthcare sites. SK&A's customers include many of America's most recognized healthcare, life sciences and pharmaceutical companies. Please visit www.skainfo.com for more information or www.skalivecounts.com for counts and ordering.
SK&A is part of the France-based Cegedim S.A. Group.
About Cegedim
Founded in 1969, Cegedim is a global technology and services company specializing in the healthcare field. Cegedim supplies services, technological tools, specialized software, data flow management services and databases. Its offerings are targeted notably at healthcare industries, life sciences companies, healthcare professionals and insurance companies.
The world leader in life sciences CRM, Cegedim is also one of the leading suppliers of strategic healthcare industry data. Cegedim employs 8,600 people in more than 80 countries and generated revenue of EUR 874 million in 2009.
Cegedim SA is listed in Paris (EURONEXT: CGM).
To learn more, please visit www.cegedim.com
Media Inquiries
SK&A
Jack Schember
Vice President of Marketing
Tel: +1 949.255.1259
Cegedim Group
Aude Balleydier
Media Relations
Tel. : + 33 (0)1 49 09 68 81