Electronic Health Records For Dummies

Looking at EHR usage around the world

The United States isn’t the only country making wider use of EHR. In fact, several countries have already achieved widespread adoption of paperless systems. Four countries — the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand — are tops in EHR usage with more than 90 percent of general practitioners using some kind of EHR system. Germany, too, is making progress toward electronic records, with between 40 and 80 percent compliance.

Some of these EHR gold star countries are also looking long-term to make more aspects of patient care management electronic. Australia, for example, is dedicated to creating a lifetime EHR for every citizen. HealthConnect is the major national EHR initiative in Australia, made up of territory, state, and federal governments. In New Zealand, more than 50 percent of physicians who use EHR also prescribe medications electronically in an attempt to make a full-scale move to electronic recordkeeping for all aspects of care.

Figure 1-1: EHR usage in the United States in 2009.

Knowing the Reasons to Implement EHR

So, great. Everyone else is doing it — adopting EHR, that is. “Why should I?” you ask. Well, the reasons for implementing EHR are as varied as the people who use them. Some physicians want quicker access to patient medical record information, whereas others want to interface more easily with other stakeholders, ...