Despite Increased Use of Electronic Medical Records, Fewer U.S. Doctors Believe It Improves Health Outcomes, Accenture Survey...
April 13 2015 - 7:03AM
Business Wire
A new survey by Accenture (NYSE:ACN) found that most U.S.
doctors are more proficient using electronic medical records (EMR)
than they were two years ago, but fewer believe that EMR has
improved treatment decisions, reduced medical errors or improved
health outcomes.
The U.S. findings, part of a six-country survey of more than
2,600 physicians, including roughly 600 in the United States, found
that healthcare IT use among doctors has averaged double-digit
growth, since Accenture conducted a similar survey in 2012.
However, despite doctors increasing their use of technology
over that time, fewer physicians believe that EMR has improved
treatment decisions (46 percent in 2015 vs. 62 percent in 2012),
reduced medical errors (64 vs. 72 percent) and improved health
outcomes for patients (46 vs. 58 percent).
“Despite the rapid uptake of electronic medical records, the
industry is facing the reality that digital records alone are not
sufficient to driving better, more-efficient care in the
long-term," said Kaveh Safavi, M.D., J.D., who leads
Accenture’s global health business. “The findings underscore the
importance of adopting both technology and new care processes, as
some leading health systems have already done, while ensuring that
existing shortcomings in patient care are not further magnified by
digitalization. The U.S. healthcare market has made remarkable
progress in EMR adoption, and we believe that as the technology
evolves, so too will the benefits to physicians and patient
care.”
Increase Physician Adoption of Healthcare IT
The survey found that the vast majority – 79 percent – of U.S.
doctors are more proficient using EMR than they were two years ago.
The number of U.S. doctors who routinely use digital tools, such as
secure e-mail, for communicating with patients has more than
doubled since the last survey, to 30 percent, versus just 13
percent in 2012. The five IT capabilities that U.S. doctors use the
most are: Entering patient notes electronically (82 percent);
prescribing drugs electronically (72 percent); receiving clinical
results directly into a patient’s EMR (65 percent); using
electronic administration tools (63 percent); and sending e-order
requests to laboratories (62 percent).
However, despite U.S. doctors’ increased use of technology, more
than two-thirds (70 percent) of them believe that healthcare
IT has decreased the amount of time they spend with patients. About
three-fourths (76 percent) of those surveyed believe that
interoperability of the tools currently available limits their
ability to improve the quality of patient care through healthcare
IT. Although nearly all U.S. doctors (90 percent) said that better
functionality and easy-to-use data-entry systems are important for
improving the quality of patient care through healthcare IT, more
than half (58 percent) said that the electronic health record
system in their organization is hard to use.
Increase in Online Services for Patients
Driven by growing demand for patient engagement, the majority of
U.S. doctors surveyed reported an increase in the services they now
provide patients online. The number of physicians offering
tele-monitoring devices that enable patients to monitor their
health has tripled since the last survey, from just 8 percent in
2012 to 24 percent now. Many U.S. doctors now provide patients
with access to online medical records (55 percent) and electronic
reminders for follow-up care (55 percent); enable them to book
appointments online (46 percent) and view health-related
information during consultation (36 percent); and offer
consultations through videoconferencing (14 percent).
The survey also showed that U.S. doctors believe that allowing
patients to update their own medical records increases their
engagement in their own health (cited by 82 percent of
respondents), improves patient satisfaction (81 percent), boosts
understanding of their health conditions (72
percent), increases patient and physician communication (71
percent), and increases the accuracy of their medical records (60
percent).
“The industry needs to adapt to a new generation of patients who
are taking proactive roles in their healthcare and expect to have
real-time data at their fingertips,” said Safavi. “When patients
have a greater role in the record-keeping process, it can increase
their understanding of conditions, improve motivation and serve as
a clear differentiator for clinical care provided by
physicians."
Methodology
Accenture commissioned a survey of 2,619 doctors in six
countries to assess their adoption and attitudes toward electronic
health records and healthcare IT. The six countries represented
were the United States (601 respondents), Australia (510), Brazil
(504), England (502), Norway (302) and Singapore (200). The survey
was conducted online by Nielsen between December 2014 and January
2015. The analysis provided comparisons by country, sector, age and
use.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services
and outsourcing company, with more than 323,000 people serving
clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled
experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and
business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most
successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help
them become high-performance businesses and governments. The
company generated net revenues of US$30.0 billion for the fiscal
year ended Aug. 31, 2014. Its home page is
www.accenture.com.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:
http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20150413005148/en/
AccentureJenn Francis, + 1
630-338-6426jennifer.francis@accenture.com
Accenture (NYSE:ACN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Accenture (NYSE:ACN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024