FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:Lauren Shaham, CAST, 202-413-8062
Washington - The rate of nursing homes using electronic information systems (EIS) is considerably higher than previous estimates and compares favorably to other health care settings, according to a new study in the online edition of the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association released by LeadingAge (formerly AAHSA).
The LeadingAge report is an analysis of data from the 2004 National Nursing Home Survey. This survey features data regarding EIS use in 12 functional areas, including both administrative and resident care activities. It is the most recent and accurate picture of EIS use in America’s nursing homes
Using the data, researchers from LeadingAge as well as the association’s Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST) and Center for Applied Research (formerly IFAS) found that in 2004, nearly all U.S. nursing homes had EIS for Minimum Data Set (MDS) data collection and billing.
Researchers also found that 43 percent of U.S. nursing homes maintained electronic health records, compared to 25 percent of physician offices and 59 percent of hospitals as noted in other studies. In addition, 48 percent of nursing homes had computerized physician orders, 51 percent used electronic systems for medication orders and 41 percent used electronic systems to manage laboratory information.
Researchers also found that a nursing home’s ownership,membership in a chain and size are factors in its EIS use. Larger facilities and those that were partof a chain used more electronic systems than smaller, stand-alone facilities.
“This report suggests that the long-term care providers are not only aware of the importance of electronic health reporting, but that they have adopted these technologies at a higher rate than providers in other settings,” Helaine Resnick, Ph.D., director of research at the LeadingAge Center for Applied Research and the study’s lead author, said.
“There is perception that nursing homes 'lag behind' other settings when it comes to using in electronic health records,” said Majd Alwan, Ph.D., vice president of CAST. “This report shows that perception simply isn’t the case.”
“It is time for long-term care providers to take a seat at the table as a leader in national efforts to advance the development of electronic health records,” said Barbara Manard, Ph.D., LeadingAge’s vice president of long-term health strategies.