Survey: Physicians find HIT awkward, unresponsive

A new study by the American College of Physician Executives concludes that physicians and health IT still have a rocky relationship, with some reporting that the introduction of EMRs has been a disaster.

The ACPE, which polled 1,000 members, gathered data similar to that collected in a study it performed in 2004, then used the two studies to look at how physician HIT use has progressed.

ACPE researchers found that more than 64 percent of respondents used EMRs, up from 33 percent in 2004; that about 44 percent of organizations reporting used CPOE, as compared with 33 percent five years ago; and that 38 percent use pharmaceutical bar coding, up from 20 percent in 2004.

While these rising numbers could conceivably be seen as progress, it didn't look that way for some of the physicians who responded, who argued that current systems were clunky, hard to use and not far along enough in their development. 

Worse, some physicians felt their needs had not been taken into account when their organizations were designing and implementing HIT systems, with little thought given to how HIT systems would improve work flow or efficiency, researchers said.

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

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