Study: EHRs improve diabetes care, improve clinical quality

A Case Western Reserve University study has found electronic health records could help keep patients healthier -  at least those with diabetes -  and that clinical quality improvement is greater at practices that use EHRs.

National Journal: Study: E-Records Keep Patients Healthier
Electronic health records can help doctors give their patients the best care, at least when it comes to diabetes, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday. The findings are a boost to the Obama administration's electronic health-records program, which offers doctors and hospitals financial incentives if they set up electronic health records. The program will start penalizing providers in 2015 by cutting Medicare reimbursement by 1 percent if they don't use an electronic medical record. Randall Cebul, a professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University, and colleagues found that more than half of diabetes patients got the best care as measured by four standards if their providers used electronic health records. This compares to just 7 percent of patients whose providers used old-fashioned paper, they reported in this week's New England Journal of Medicine (McCarthy, 8/31).

Modern Healthcare: Study Finds Higher Clinical Quality Compliance At Practices Using EHRs
Researchers from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, report that provider practices using electronic health-record systems had higher rates of compliance with clinical quality improvement measures for diabetic patients than did their clinical counterparts using paper-based record systems. Through the program, office-based physician practices report on quality-of-care and outcomes measures for patients who have chronic medical conditions. Some of the participating Cleveland practices use paper-based recordkeeping systems, other use EHRs. All were members of the Better Health Greater Cleveland, a RWJF-funded collaborative for practice improvement (Conn, 8/31).