In the past few years, we've seen a huge shift in the healthcare field - a movement from the traditional paper patient records to today's electronic health records. While the intentions behind pushing EHRs are good (after all, everyone wants better access to complete, up-to-date patient records), the transition to EHRs in hospital and ambulatory settings hasn't been easy on anyone. This is hardly surprising considering the heavy pressure on providers to digitize their practices according to government regulations (like the Meaningful Use program) and the fact that many EHR systems were developed by technology experts, without much first-hand knowledge of provider workflows.
Yet the healthcare industry has made tremendous progress. The question is, how much? How many hospitals are now completely paperless? Are the top EHR systems on the market satisfying provider demands? Which EHRs are the best? What does the healthcare field still need to do to close that disconnect between what EHR technology can do and what providers need it to do?
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We wanted to answer some of these big questions and distill the answers down into a neat little infographic (easier said than done!). Luckily, we had a ton of help gathering data from research partner Software Advice. As a top software review site for the healthcare industry, Software Advice does regular consumer surveys to answer these types of questions. Drawing from their recent EHR buyer survey and round-up of the best user-friendly EHRs for solo practices, along with several other helpful sources (see below for the full list), we put together this infographic on the current EHR landscape. Besides some answers to our key research questions, you'll find rankings on the top EHR systems and tips on how to select the right EHR for your practice.
Overall, we found that EHR adoption rates in the past few years have indeed skyrocketed - but they're still not where they could be. In some cases, small practices haven't had enough time or resources to get their EHR systems up-and-running. Other providers complain of unintuitive and clunky systems that require too much training and too many clicks. The top challenges still seem to be slowed productivity, integration with other systems, and setting up the right customizations to match provider workflows.
Still, according to Software Advice's recent user survey, 87% of clinicians say EHRs make patient records easier to access. The potential for change (and eventually, interoperability) is there. With continued improvements to the top EHRs to make them more user-friendly, we could get there.
We hope you find this infographic helpful, whether you're a medical professional evaluating EHRs or a tech developer researching what physicians want. Please share with your colleagues and your EHR vendors to advocate for change!
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Please share this infographic with your colleagues! Let's spread word of how to improve our EHRs for providers.
