The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) announces the availability of a new resource for researchers and policymakers interested in studying the use of electronic medical records (EMR's) by physicians. A web-based Health E-Stat, “Electronic Medical Record Use by Office-based Physicians: United States, 2005,” provides the latest look at the growing trend towards electronic record-keeping in the medical community.
To better understand physicians’ use of EMRs, the 2005 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) included questions about EMR system features that health information technology experts consider to be the minimal requirements of a complete EMR, such as computerized orders for prescriptions, computerized orders for tests, reporting of test results, and physician notes.
One-quarter of office-based physicians report using fully or partially electronic medical record systems (EMR) in 2005, a 31% increase from the 18.2 percent reported in the 2001 survey. However, only one in ten of the physicians surveyed is considered to be fully using EMRs, based on the minimal requirements of a complete system.
The Health E-Stat presents estimates of EMR use by physician, practice, and location characteristics of office-based physicians. It can be accessed on the NCHS website at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/electronic/electronic.htm. Access to the 2005 NAMCS data file is currently limited to users of the NCHS Research Data Center (RDC). (Visit the RDC website at www.cdc.gov/nchs/r&d/rdc.htm for information about how to access it). The public use file will be available free of charge to all, when it is released in the winter.
The NAMCS is an annual, national probability sample survey of visits to nonfederal office based physicians. It is a component of a family of surveys known collectively as the National Health Care Survey (NHCS). For information on long term care, inpatient care, and ambulatory surgery components of the NHCS, please visit www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhcs.htm.
