The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has released a report examining the impact of electronic health records (EHRs) on health care quality.  The brief notes that doctors and hospitals serving Medicare patients must implement EHRs by 2015 or face a financial penalty.  Examining the care received by patients with diabetes at Better Health Greater Cleveland, the authors found those in practices employing EHRs provided all needed care to patients with diabetes at a statistically significantly higher rate that practices with paper records.

From the report:

Long Term Care and Dual Eligibles: Overview and Managed Care Opportunities

Health care is one of the last U.S. industries to universally incorporate technological advancements. While most sectors—from banking to hospitality—have made investments in information technology to improve efficiency and consumer relationships, America’s health care system is still largely paper-driven. Partly as a result, the U.S. health care system is plagued by inefficiency and poor quality. Delivery is slower, more error-prone and harder to measure and coordinate than it should be. One study found that 80 percent of medical errors began with miscommunication, incorrect or missing information about patients or lack of access to patient records.

Full report: Does Use of EHRs Help Improve Quality?  (PDF | 309.19 KB)

Robert Wood Johnson Founation.  (2011).  Does use of EHRs help improve quality?.