Table 4.
Marginal effects of electronic health record system optimization on probability that physician agreed with the following attitude.
| Attitudes about EHR use | Sample size (n) |
Practice has optimized the EHR | Practice has not optimized EHR use | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent | Standard Error |
Confidence Interval 95% |
Percent | Standard Error |
Confidence Interval 95% |
Diff. | p-value | ||||
| My EHR system(s) meet(s) my practice's clinical needs |
1324 | 84.0% | 0.018 | 80.5% | 87.5% | 49.6% | 0.035 | 42.8% | 56.5% | 34.4% | 0.0001 |
| The time spent ordering medical services has increased |
1265 | 67.8% | 0.025 | 62.9% | 72.7% | 82.9% | 0.034 | 76.3% | 89.6% | −15.1% | 0.002 |
| My practice receives lab results faster |
1285 | 74.2% | 0.020 | 70.2% | 78.1% | 52.8% | 0.037 | 45.7% | 60.0% | 21.4% | 0.0001 |
| The time spent reviewing patient information has increased |
1299 | 66.6% | 0.025 | 61.7% | 71.4% | 82.4% | 0.029 | 76.7% | 88.1% | −15.8% | 0.0002 |
| My EHR produces clinical benefits for my practice |
1295 | 81.6% | 0.019 | 77.9% | 85.2% | 50.8% | 0.038 | 43.4% | 58.2% | 30.8% | 0.0001 |
| Overall, my EHR saves me time | 1322 | 54.1% | 0.024 | 49.4% | 58.9% | 13.6% | 0.024 | 13.6% | 2.4% | 40.5% | 0.0001 |
| The time spent documenting patient care has increased |
1323 | 82.0% | 0.020 | 78.0% | 85.9% | 90.6% | 0.019 | 86.9% | 94.4% | −8.7% | 0.0042 |
| Overall, my practice functions more efficiently with an EHR system |
1323 | 73.6% | 0.020 | 69.6% | 77.6% | 27.7% | 0.034 | 21.1% | 34.2% | 46.0% | 0.0001 |
| My EHR disrupts the way I interact with my patients |
1320 | 57.8% | 0.025 | 52.9% | 62.8% | 85.1% | 0.024 | 80.4% | 89.7% | −27.2% | 0.0001 |
| My EHR allows me to deliver better patient care |
1308 | 69.1% | 0.022 | 64.9% | 73.3% | 22.7% | 0.027 | 17.4% | 28.0% | 46.4% | 0.0001 |
| Health Information is less secure in my EHR system than a paper-based system |
1288 | 27.3% | 0.020 | 23.4% | 31.3% | 36.2% | 0.038 | 28.7% | 43.7% | −8.9% | 0.0354 |
| My EHR enhances patient data confidentialty |
1285 | 70.0% | 0.023 | 65.5% | 74.5% | 46.1% | 0.040 | 38.4% | 53.9% | 23.9% | 0.0001 |
| My EHR produces financial benefits for my practice |
1215 | 53.8% | 0.025 | 48.9% | 58.8% | 24.9% | 0.033 | 18.3% | 31.4% | 29.0% | 0.0001 |
| Use of my EHR results in incomplete billing for services |
1216 | 21.0% | 0.019 | 17.2% | 24.8% | 29.5% | 0.035 | 22.5% | 36.4% | −8.4% | 0.0259 |
| Overall, the benefits of having an EHR outweigh its cost |
1266 | 69.1% | 0.023 | 64.6% | 73.6% | 31.1% | 0.035 | 24.3% | 38.0% | 38.0% | 0.0001 |
Source: CDC/NCHS, National Electronic Health Records Survey, 2014. Marginal effects are presented from logistic regression, where estimates are adjusted for having a certified system, experience with using EHRs, participation in any delivery system reform (ACO, P4P, or PCMH), age, specialty, practice size, ownership, metropolitan statistical area, and Census region. Item nonresponse for EHR optimization was about 3% and was removed from the analysis. Missing data for each attitude was removed resulting in different sample sizes for each question.