Patient panel of underserved populations and adoption of electronic medical record systems by office-based physicians.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the association between patient panels of underserved populations and adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) among office-based physicians.


METHODS
Two thousand three hundred and twenty-six office-based physicians who responded and saw patients in the 2005 and 2006 National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys.


METHODS
This study used a cross-sectional design. The unit of analysis was the office-based physician. EMR adoption was defined based on functionalities (No EMR, Limited, or Comprehensive). An EMR was considered to have "comprehensive" functionalities if it included computerized orders for prescriptions and tests, test results, and clinical notes by physicians. Patient panels of underserved populations were measured as proportions of racial/ethnic minorities, Medicaid recipients, or self-pay/no charge/charity care patients treated by a physician using the reported sociodemographic characteristics in patient records linked to their treating physicians. Data were analyzed using multivariate regression analyses controlling for other patient-panel characteristics and characteristics of physicians and their practices.


RESULTS
We found a negative association between the proportion of Hispanics treated by a physician and physician adoption of EMRs with "comprehensive" functionalities after adjusting for other covariates.


CONCLUSIONS
Physicians treating high shares of Hispanic patients may have lower access to EMRs with essential functionalities.
Li
Chenghui
C
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Division of Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy, College of Pharmacy, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham Street Slot # 522, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA. cli@uams.edu
West-Strum
Donna
D
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001292:Attitude to Computers; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007256:Information Systems; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D015233:Models, Statistical; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010361:Patients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010824:Physicians' Offices; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014481:United States
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