EHR poll: 7 key takeaways

EHR use is widespread

86 percent of those surveyed say they use an ambulatory EHR system. Among the 14 percent who don’t, the most-often cited reasons are that EHRs interfere with patient relationships, and are too costly.

EHR switching is common

78 percent of respondents have used more than one ambulatory EHR system, with nearly half (49 percent) using three or more.

The most commonly-reported reason for switching EHRs was a job move, followed by a desire for a more user-friendly system and wanting an EHR that could link to other practice management systems.

EHRs lack many features and capabilities users want

Among respondents who said they were considering switching EHRs, 71 percent said they want their next one to be more user-friendly. That was followed by easier customization (54 percent) and better vendor support (49 percent). Separately, when asked what EHR vendors could do to improve their products, 72 percent cite the lack of user-friendliness.

Maintaining EHRs is costly

Nearly two-thirds of respondents (65 percent) say their practice spends more than $10,000 per year on EHR maintenance. Thirty-six percent say maintenance costs are $50,000 or more.

Data breaches are rare

Only 3 percent of respondents said their practice has experienced a data breach in the last year. The rest said they hadn’t, or didn’t know if they had.

Practice staff mostly don’t like EHRs

Asked to rate their nonmedical staff’s feelings about the practice’s EHR, 50 percent said they were mostly or somewhat negative, and 23 percent said they were mostly or somewhat positive. 26 percent rated staff feelings as neutral.

EHRs are a drain on medical practices’ finances

Just over half (51 percent) of respondents said EHRs have a somewhat or mostly negative impact on their practice’s finances, while 19 percent said their impact has been somewhat or mostly positive.