EHR adoption grows among solo providers

The number of solo practitioners and small practices who have adopted electronic health record systems (EHRs) increased more than 10% from 2013 to 2014, according to a new survey.

The survey found that solo practitioners’ EHR adoption rate jumped to 61% in 2014, up from 50.3% in 2013. The specialty with the highest rate of adoption was dialysis with 80.6%, while internal medicine and pediatrics ranked second with 75.8%.

SK&A, a Cegedim company, conducted the telephone survey of 270,036 U.S. medical sites. The survey also revealed a correlation between EHR adoption and patient volume. Offices that saw 1 to 50 patients per day had a 57% adoption rate. Offices that saw more than 101 patients per day had a 76.3% adoption rate.

“What has accelerated the adoption of electronic health records among smaller practices is the availability of more than 450 different solutions to fit their practice needs, size and budget,” Jack Schember, senior director of marketing for SK&A, said in a written statement. “Physicians also realize they have a limited window of opportunity to take advantage of federal reimbursements by showing ‘meaningful use’ of digital record-keeping technology.”

Although EHR adoption is growing, the cost and functionality of the systems remain significant barriers. Medical Economicsreleased a survey in February of nearly 1,000 physicians that found that 67% of respondents were dissatisfied with their EHR system’s functionality.