Electronic health records and health care quality over time in a federally qualified health center. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • The longitudinal effects of electronic health records (EHRs) on ambulatory quality are not clear. It is not known whether adoption and meaningful use of EHRs result in a brief period of quality improvement that then plateaus, or whether with ongoing use quality improvement continues. We studied health care quality at six sites of a Federally Qualified Health Center in New York State over 3 years (2008-2010) for 25 290 unique patients. Patients were twice as likely to receive recommended care on a set of 12 quality measures (11 of which are included in Stage 1 Meaningful Use) 3 years post-EHR implementation, compared to 1-year post-implementation (odds ratio 1.97; 95% confidence interval, 1.91-2.03). The magnitude of absolute improvement ranged from 5% to 20% per measure. EHRs were associated with continuing improvement in health care quality for at least 3 years post-implementation in the safety-net setting of a Federally Qualified Health Center.

publication date

  • March 9, 2015

Research

keywords

  • Electronic Health Records
  • Meaningful Use
  • Quality of Health Care
  • Safety-net Providers

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 84934275694

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1093/jamia/ocu049

PubMed ID

  • 25755124

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 22

issue

  • 2