News Feature | April 5, 2016

Ambulatory EHR Use Down

Katie Wike

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

ER

According to a report from SK&A, in the last year physician use of ambulatory EHRs has dropped significantly.

Physician use of ambulatory EHRs has dropped over the last year from 62.8 percent in January 2015 to 59 percent in January 2016. In addition, usage also dropped from 54.5 percent to 50 percent for solo practitioners, from 73 percent to 70.5 percent for groups of three to five physicians, and from 77.2 percent to 75.6 percent for groups of 26 or more physicians, according to a report from SK&A.

Fierce EMR reports usage by number of exam rooms on site was the only statistic that actually rose in the last year. The percentage changed:

  • 33.7 percent to 25.4 percent for practices with just one exam room
  • 60.6 percent to 61.3 percent, in offices with two exam rooms
  • 66.6 percent to 67 percent where there were three rooms
  • 78.8 percent to 79 percent in offices with 11 or more exam rooms

The report’s accompanying infographic shows states with the highest rates of EHR adoption are North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, and Iowa. The states with the lowest rates of EHR adoption are Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island.

Of EHR vendors, Epic had the highest market share at 12.4 percent, followed by eClinicalWorks at 10.3 percent, Allscripts at 8.2 percent, and Practice Fusion at 6.5 percent.