Increasingly, collections of medical records are stored and shared digitally by multiple medical service providers. RAND research has explored the costs of implementing electronic medical record systems; the benefits accrued, including the improved quality of care; the rate of technology adoption; individual privacy concerns; and the role of government in the use and growth of electronic recordkeeping.
Journal Article
Although most physicians qualify for federal incentives to promote adoption of electronic health records, eligibility varies substantially by specialty and practice size.
Journal Article
Studies are needed that document the specific challenges of implementing health information technology and how these challenges might be addressed.
Research Brief
Shares findings on the potential effects of electronic health records (EHRs) on health care quality, based on analysis of extensive data from 2003 and 2006 on EHR adoption, hospital characteristics, and hospital quality in nearly 2,100 hospitals.
Journal Article
Encryption is seen as a way to prevent malicious use of patient data, but there is no empirical evidence that it does.
Journal Article
This paper reports an assessment of how well the structure and code sets specified in the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs Structured and Codified Sig Format represent ambulatory electronic prescriptions.
News Release
Use of electronic health records by hospitals across the United States has had only a limited effect on improving the quality of medical care.
Journal Article
Use of electronic health records by hospitals across the United States has had only a limited effect on improving the quality of medical care.
Journal Article
This article discusses the range of health information technology initiatives included in the 2009 economic stimulus legislation that collectively are known as the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) initiative; these include proposed regulations on
Journal Article
Compared with detection based on the presenting patient's chief complaint, data from an emergency room diagnosis can provide valuable information about influenza-like illness despite a potential delay in detection.
Journal Article
RxNorm provides concepts covering nearly all ambulatory e-prescriptions but could be improved by making it possible to select the most-specific concepts within broader concepts.
Research Brief
Demonstrating a link between use of electronic health records in community-based primary care practices and higher-quality care, this study encourages prioritization of such technologies and their advanced functionalities.
News Release
Routine use of electronic health records may improve the quality of care provided in community-based primary care practices more than other common strategies intended to raise the quality of medical care.
Journal Article
The goal of this project was to assess genetic/genomic content in electronic health records.
Research Brief
Provides a summary of strategies for making access to antiretroviral therapy widespread, sustainable, more cost-effective, and efficient, while still providing quality care in sub-Saharan Africa.
News Release
A large group of California physicians given financial incentives to improve the quality of medical care have begun to embrace an array of changes important to advancing quality.
Journal Article
The electronic health record (EHR) is seen by many as an ideal vehicle for measuring quality of health care and monitoring ongoing provider performance. It is anticipated that the availability of EHR-extracted data will allow quality assessment without the expensive and time-consuming process of medical record abstraction. A review of the data requirements for the indicators in the Quality Assessment Tools system suggests that only about a third of the indicators would be readily accessible from EHR data.
Commentary
As it considers ways to improve the efficiency and quality of U.S. health care, one issue that a new Congress should reconsider is the longstanding roadblock that has stalled efforts to create a system of unique patient identification numbers for every person in the United States, writes Richard Hillestad.
Report
Describes a framework for evaluating the contribution of the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application, DoD's global electronic health record, to the performance of the Military Health System.
News Release
Creating a unique patient identification number for every person in the United States would facilitate a reduction in medical errors, simplify the use of electronic medical records, increase overall efficiency and help protect patient privacy.
Research Brief
This research brief summarizes an analysis and comparison of two methods of patient identification -- statistical matching and unique patient identifier -- on error rates, operational efficiency, costs, and privacy and security issues.
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