E-Health May Not Predict Better Care

Electronic medical records may improve the quality of health care in hospitals, but more research is needed, a study says. The study looked at 2,021 U.S. hospitals. In 2003, 23% used at least a basic electronic medical record, or EMR. By 2007, 38% of hospitals used one. Quality of care for heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia improved at all hospitals between 2004 and 2007. The largest increase in quality was seen for patients with heart failure at hospitals with EMRs. But hospitals that adopted EMRs during the study did not see better quality over time, compared with hospitals that continued using paper records. The study was published online in the American Journal of Managed Care. CBC News wrote about it December 24.

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