Many physicians seem to be adopting electronic health record (EHR) systems, and most of the physicians with EHR systems seem to be at least somewhat satisfied with their systems.
Eric Jamoom and other researchers at the National Center for Health Statistics, an arm of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have reported that finding in an EHR satisfaction paper posted on the CDC website.
The researchers based their paper on results from a 2011 mail survey of 5,232 office-based physicians who treat ambulatory patients. About 61% of the physicians participated in the survey.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) provides incentives for office-based physicians who make "meaningful use" of EHR systems.
About 55% of the physicians — and 64% of participating physicians under age 50 — said they had adopted EHR systems, and about three-quarters said they believed their use of the EHR systems meets the PPACA "meaningful use" standards.
About 47% of the physicians with EHR systems said they are somewhat satisfied with the systems, and 38% said they are very satisfied, the researchers report. Only 5% said they were "very dissatisfied."