Title: Level of EHR adoption and quality and cost of care - evidence from vascular conditions and procedures

Authors: Jay J. Shen; Christopher R. Cochran; Scott Neish; Charles B. Moseley; Robin Mukalian

Addresses: Department of Health Care Administration and Policy, School of Community Health Sciences, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154-3023, USA ' Department of Health Care Administration and Policy, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA ' Department of Health Care Administration and Policy, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA ' Department of Health Care Administration and Policy, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA ' Valley Health System, 2075 E. Flamingo Rd., Las Vegas, NV 89119, USA

Abstract: This study examined relationships of electronic health record (EHR) adoption to both the cost of care and quality outcomes in the acute care hospital setting. Data were mainly obtained from the 2009 National Inpatient Sample and the 2009 American Hospital Association EHR implementation survey. Two sets of dependent variables were identified. The first set included quality indicators of five cardiovascular and three cerebrovascular conditions and procedures. The second set included cost of care for the eight quality indicators. The independent variables were levels of EHR adoption. The results did not identify many differences in quality indicators across levels of EHR adoption, but consistently showed that patients in hospitals with EHR systems incurred lower costs than patients in hospitals without a comprehensive or basic EHR system. It was concluded that EHR adoption is more likely to be associated with the cost of patient care than improving quality indicators and clinical outcomes.

Keywords: electronic health records; EHRs; EHR adoption; electronic medical records; EMRs; quality indicators; cost of care; acute care hospitals; cardiovascular conditions; cerebrovascular conditions; acute myocardial infarction; AMI; heart failure; strokes; healthcare management; cardiovascular procedures; cerebrovascular procedures; patient care; healthcare costs; USA; United States.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHTM.2015.070514

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2015 Vol.15 No.1, pp.4 - 21

Accepted: 18 Oct 2014
Published online: 09 Jul 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article