The EMR survey was completed by 160 respondents from 121 FHTs (65% of all 186) in the period April 10 – 30, 2012. Thank you to all who took the time to respond.
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Findings from responses indicate:
- 93.7% of respondents use only 1 EMR system in their FHT, with 6.3% using 2 or more.
- Almost half of FHTs (49%) use Practice Solutions Software (PSS) and account for 52.5% of all EMR users.
- The next most-frequently used EMRs are OSCAR and Bell EMR (formerly xWave) with about 12% of FHTs for each, then HealthScreen and P&P Data Systems with about 6% of FHTs each.
- Looking at aggregate scores for the 9 EMRs rated by more than one FHT:
- 3 EMRs received average or good ratings in all evaluation questions (OSCAR, Jonoke and Accuro(R))
- 3 EMRs receive average or poor ratings in all evaluation questions (Nightingale, HealthScreen and York-Med)
- The remaining 3 had ratings ranging from poor to good (PSS, Bell and P&P)
- About 91% of FHTs report their physicians and other staff are using the full range of functionalities (ie. scheduling, billing & patient charting), and 97% of FHTs have a messaging function for internal communication.
- 95% of FHTs have remote VPN connection to the EMR, but only 46% can access the EMR via WiFi during hospital rounds and/or LTC visits and/or home visits.
- Over 93% of FHTs use desktops in exam rooms, but only 39% use tablets or laptops during patient encounters.
- Patient access to a Patient Portal or Patient Health Record is still in early stages, with about 15% of FHTs who have this in place. About 70% have printers in patient rooms.
Respondents who had indicated an interest in being part of a user groups for their EMR received contact information of all others who had signed up for the same EMR user group. Having been linked in this way, user groups are encouraged to act as resources for one another to learn how to get the most from their EMR, and join together as needed in working with their vendor.