An electronic health record system that alerts physicians to possible problems helped boost doctors' performance and improve patient care, according to a study published in the journal Medical Care, Healthcare IT News reports.
EHR Alert System
To create the alert system, researchers integrated existing EHR tools with physician performance reports.
The system included a yellow light on the side of a doctor's computer that alerted them to possible problems with a patient's care. Physicians could click on the light to learn more about the potential problem.
In addition, doctors' interactions with the alerts were linked to quarterly performance reports based on quality measures for chronic disease management and preventive care.
Study Findings
For the study, researchers followed 40 primary care physicians at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago who implemented the EHR alert system. After one year of using the system, researchers found that:
- The percentage of heart disease patients receiving cholesterol-lowering medications rose from 87% to 93%;
- The percentage of patients receiving pneumonia vaccinations increased from 80% to 90%; and
- The percentage of patients receiving colon cancer screenings increased from 57% to 62% (Merrill, Healthcare IT News, 12/22).