U.S. Adoption of EHRs Surges

The United States is a world leader in adopting electronic health records, according to a new industry study by Reston, Va.-based Accenture.

The global management consulting firm analyzed EHR adoption in the United States, Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Singapore and Spain. Researchers surveyed 3,700 physicians in the eight countries and conducted 160 interviews with government, private and academic health leaders and analysts to develop the findings.

"What is encouraging about the U.S. findings is that primary doctors and specialists are on pretty equal footing for health care IT adoption," Mark Knickrehm, head of Accenture's global health care business, says in a news release. "This balance and equality between the sectors will help speed integration of care delivery across the U.S. health care system."

The Accenture study, "Connected Health: The Drive to Integrated Healthcare Delivery," included several observations about the U.S. market:

• About 62 percent of specialists use health IT such as e-scheduling and e-billing, compared with 49 percent globally.
• About 59 percent of U.S. physicians enter patient notes electronically, a percentage mirrored in the other countries studies.
• E-prescribing is used by 54 percent of U.S. primary care physicians, compared with just 20 percent, on average, in the other seven countries.
• About 30 percent of primary and specialist physicians send and receive e-referrals for recommending care outside their organization. The percentage was much higher for doctors aligned with large health systems than for independent physicians.