The U.S. is a leader in physician health IT adoption and use, according to a new eight-country study released by Accenture, Modern Healthcare reports.
The study -- titled, "Connected Health: The Drive to Integrated Healthcare Delivery -- was based on a survey of 3,700 physicians and interviews with health care leaders in:
- Australia;
- Canada;
- England;
- France;
- Germany;
- Singapore;
- Spain; and
- The U.S. (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 2/15).
Key Findings
The study found that:
- About 62% of U.S. specialty physicians use electronic tools to improve administrative efficiency, compared with the global average of 49%;
- 54% of U.S. primary care physicians use electronic prescribing, compared with a global average of 20%
- 48% of U.S. physician specialists send orders electronically, compared with a global average of about 36%;
- 38% of U.S. primary care doctors have electronic access to clinical data about patients who have been seen by a different health care provider, compared with a global average of 33%; and
- 17% of U.S. physicians have given patients electronic access to their own health data, compared with a global average of 8%.
Comments
Mark Knickrehm, who leads Accenture's global healthcare business, said, "With a multi-billion dollar investment to further health care IT adoption and [health information exchange] usage, the U.S. federal government is building momentum toward what we call 'connected health,' and recent government legislation -- including the Affordable Care Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- is providing a strong impetus for change" (Accenture release, 2/15).