title: How common are electronic health records in the United States? A summary of the evidence.
abstract: Electronic health records (EHRs) are promising tools to improve quality and efficiency in health care, but data on their adoption rate are limited. We identified surveys on EHR adoption and assessed their quality. Although surveys returned widely different estimates of EHR use, when available information is limited to studies of high or medium quality, national estimates are possible: Through 2005, approximately 23.9 percent of physicians used EHRs in the ambulatory setting, while 5 percent of hospitals used computerized physician order entry. Large gaps in knowledge, including information about EHR use among safety-net providers, pose critical challenges for the development of policies aimed at speeding adoption.
authors.affiliation: Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. ajha@hsph.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Ashish K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Jha
authors.forename: Timothy G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Ferris
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Donelan
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: DesRoches
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shields
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rosenbaum
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Blumenthal
mesh_terms: D000555:Ambulatory Care Information Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006751:Hospital Information Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D050316:Medical Order Entry Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008824:Michigan; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D014481:United States