BETHESDA, Md., May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Alliance for Primary Care Informatics (NAPCI) held its first public forum by organizing a day-long State Leadership Conference on Electronic Health Records (EHRs). The event took place at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and received support from AHRQ and the eHealth Initiative. In attendance were state representatives and senators from six states as well as a host of nationally known academic and business leaders in patient safety and electronic health records.
Many in attendance were surprised to learn that the United States ranks 13th in terms of the proportion of physician offices using Electronic Health Records, well behind world leaders Sweden and the Netherlands. Cultural, financial and legal barriers to EHR adoption were cited by speakers and audience members alike, and discussion focused on positive steps that states could take to facilitate the more rapid introduction of EHRs into clinical practice.
Financial models suggest that less expensive systems that focus solely on prescription writing save some money in the short run, but provide far less return on investment than more comprehensive systems that also incorporate physician notes and laboratory and other clinical study results. Similar models have suggested that smaller practices with fewer than 5 physicians do not have the patient volume necessary to achieve a good return on investment when conducting an EHR installation independent of other practices. The financial impact of EHRs on the clinical practices was further demonstrated by models showing the misaligned incentives in which clinical practices are often burdened with the whole cost of EHR implementation, however, the only receive about 10% of the benefit, with the rest of the savings being realized by purchasers and payers of healthcare.
Current and proposed state legislative solutions were discussed including using the purchasing power of Medicare and Medicaid to reduce the cost per practice of implementing EHRs. Tax-exempt bond offerings were also considered as a mechanism to overcome the initial financial hurdle to EHR implementation. New York and Rhode Island are considering this option. Senator Daniel Mongiardo from Kentucky described legislation he proposed that would create a statewide infrastructure to facilitate the integration and communication of information for clinical purposes. He also proposed a statewide initiative to create a public-private partnership to redesign the states healthcare delivery system using information technology to provide a higher quality of care at a lower cost.
The National Alliance for Primary Care Informatics is an evolving, coordinating group of primary care organizations committed to the development and implementation of a national strategy for the use of information technology and management in primary care. Current members of NAPCI include: American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Physicians, American Medical Informatics Association, American Nurses Association, National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, North American Primary Care Research Group, Society of General Internal Medicine, and Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. Administrative support is currently being provided by AMIA.
More information on the National Alliance for Primary Care Informatics (NAPCI) is available at: http://www.napci.org/
CONTACT: Mary Ellen Doran of the American Medical Informatics Association, +1-301-657-1291 ext. 105 or maryellen@mail.amia.org.
National Alliance for Primary Care Informatics
CONTACT: Mary Ellen Doran of the American Medical InformaticsAssociation, +1-301-657-1291 ext. 105 or maryellen@mail.amia.org
