Health IT professionals recently ranked electronic health record implementation as their top health IT priority, according to a survey by San Francisco-based Embarcadero Technologies, Healthcare IT News reports.
Survey Results
Sixty-one percent of respondents said that EHR implementation was their top priority, followed by health data warehouses at 52% and health information exchanges at 47%.
The survey found that 85% of health care providers are either in the middle of an EHR project or intend to begin one within the next 18 months.
In addition, about two-thirds of the respondents said their IT staff was ready to implement EHR systems that meet "meaningful use" standards, which allow health providers to qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package.
Seventy-four percent of respondents indicated that the current information on EHR systems and meaningful use was adequate and that their implementation questions have been answered.
Preferred EHR Vendors
Survey respondents also indicated which EHR system provider they would use:
- 13.2% said Epic;
- 11.3% said Cerner, and
- 7.5% said Siemens.
NextGen, McKesson and Meditech also were mentioned as potential providers.
The survey was conducted between March and April of this year and primarily polled the company's health IT contacts in the U.S. (Merrill, Healthcare IT News, 7/19).