Nearly one-fourth of hospital executives (24 percent) are extremely concerned about costs related to making a complete transition to an electronic medical record (EMR) system.
U.S. News & World Report and Fidelity Investments surveyed 1,852 hospital executives--asking a series of questions ranging from hospital readmissions to accountable care organizations. Their responses each were ranked on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being "extremely concerned" and 5 being "not at all concerned." For EMR questions, a response of 6 meant that the respondents had already made a transitions to such technology.
Only about 3 percent of execs said they were not concerned at all about transitioning to an EMR system. Nineteen percent indicated they already had made such a transition.
In addition, hospital executive also were asked about their concern regarding the process of fully integrating EMRs into their hospitals' operations and culture--including retention and training of staff and physicians. Twenty-two percent said they were extremely concerned, while about 5 percent said had no worries.
In a separate article, U.S.News identifies its 118 "Most Connected" hospitals --facilities that are classified as leaders when it comes to using EMRs. The magazine points out that while research findings are mixed, fixing blame for a failed effort is slippery since a number of factors usually play a role in a hospital unsuccessfully implementing an EMR.
The top 10 connected hospitals in the U.S.News survey this year are: Mayo Clinic Rochester, Minn.; University of Wisconsin Hospital & Clinics Madison, Wisc.; Stanford Hospital & Clinics Stanford, Calif.; Children's Hospital Boston Boston; Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC; Children's Medical Center Dallas; Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, Norfolk, Va.; Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center; NorthShore Evanston Hospital Evanston, Ill.; and Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills Medical Center Woodland Hills, Calif.
For more information:
- view the U.S.News survey of hospital executives
- see the U.S. News article on "The Era of Medical Records"
- check out the "Most Connected Hospitals" list
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