RI will begin reporting on statewide healthcare IT use

Rhode Island has released a pair of reports detailing how the state's doctors use health information technology. In doing so, it has become the first state in the U.S. to measure healthcare IT use and also publish the statistics they collect.

The state found that almost 40 percent of Rhode Island doctors report using electronic clinical information systems, and about 24 percent use e-prescribing.

The new surveys were required by a 1998 law requiring a public reporting group known as HEALTH to begin releasing health quality data for licensed providers. The law was expanded in 2006 to include data collection on health IT.

It's worth noting that this isn't just an academic or policy-planning exercise, however. For one thing, the Rhode Island Quality Institute will use the survey results to evaluate trends in HIT adoption. Also, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and UnitedHealthCare of New England will use survey's results to guide their HIT-based incentive programs.

To learn more about the studies:
- read this Healthcare IT News piece

Related Article:
RI lawmakers propose medical error tracking system

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