EHRs Tied to Fewer Admissions

The use of electronic health records has the capacity to cut down on the number of emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations, and also to improve early diagnosis in primary care, two studies suggested.

In one U.S. study of patients with diabetes, implementation of electronic health records in a large integrated health system was associated with 28.80 (95% CI 20.28-37.32) fewer ED visits and 13.10 (7.37-18.82) fewer hospital admissions per 1,000 patients each year, according to Mary Reed, DrPH, of Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Oakland, and colleagues.

And in a second 12-month study conducted in Finland, use of an automated growth monitoring system integrated into primary care electronic health records was associated with a diagnostic yield of growth disorders of 0.9 (95% CI 0.6-1.2) per 1,000 children screened compared with only 0.1 (95% CI 0-0.3, P<0.001) per 1,000 in previous years, reported Leon Dunkel, MD, PhD, of Queen Mary University in London.