title: Massachusetts e-Health Project increased physicians' ability to use registries, and signals progress toward better care.
abstract: The ability to generate and use registries--lists of patients with specific conditions, medications, or test results--is considered a measure of physicians' engagement with electronic health record systems and a proxy for high-quality health care. We conducted a pre-post survey of registry capability among physicians participating in the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative, a four-year, $50 million health information technology program. Physicians who participated in the program increased their ability to generate some types of registries--specifically, for laboratory results and medication use. Our analysis also suggested that physicians who used their electronic health records more intensively were more likely to use registries, particularly in caring for patients with diabetes, compared to physicians reporting less avid use of electronic health records. This statewide project may be a viable model for regional efforts to expand health information technology and improve the quality of care.
authors: Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. mfleuran@post.harvard.edu
authors: Marshall
authors: M
authors: Fleurant
authors: Rachel
authors: R
authors: Kell
authors: Jennifer
authors: J
authors: Love
authors: Chelsea
authors: C
authors: Jenter
authors: Lynn A
authors: LA
authors: Volk
authors: Fang
authors: F
authors: Zhang
authors: David W
authors: DW
authors: Bates
authors: Steven R
authors: SR
authors: Simon
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012042:Registries