Study sees gaps in IT adoption
Doctors in smaller practices continued to lag behind their counterparts in big groups in the availability of information technology, according to a new study by the Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington.
The study, which included information from 12,000 physicians, found an increase for both small and large practices in access to information technology for each of five clinical activities. But the gaps in adoption persisted in two areas -- obtaining treatment guidelines and exchanging clinical data with other doctors -- and widened in three areas: accessing patient notes, generating preventive-care reminders and writing prescriptions.
Smaller practices "appear to be at risk of being left behind," according to Joy Grossman, co-author of the study, which was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. For instance, the study said about 8% of small practices (one to nine doctors) reported access to IT systems for prescriptions in 2000-01, a number that increased slightly to 13% in 2004-05. By contrast, the proportion of larger groups (51 or more doctors) with similar access grew to 47% in 2004-05 from 19% in 2000-01, the study said. Read more. -- by Michael Romano / HITS staff writer
Doctors in smaller practices continued to lag behind their counterparts in big groups in the availability of information technology, according to a new study by the Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington.
The study, which included information from 12,000 physicians, found an increase for both small and large practices in access to information technology for each of five clinical activities. But the gaps in adoption persisted in two areas -- obtaining treatment guidelines and exchanging clinical data with other doctors -- and widened in three areas: accessing patient notes, generating preventive-care reminders and writing prescriptions.
Smaller practices "appear to be at risk of being left behind," according to Joy Grossman, co-author of the study, which was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. For instance, the study said about 8% of small practices (one to nine doctors) reported access to IT systems for prescriptions in 2000-01, a number that increased slightly to 13% in 2004-05. By contrast, the proportion of larger groups (51 or more doctors) with similar access grew to 47% in 2004-05 from 19% in 2000-01, the study said. Read more. -- by Michael Romano / HITS staff writer
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