Originally Published MX September/October 2004

SPECIAL REPORT: IT IN HEALTHCARE

Finding out what healthcare providers are looking for in medical IT systems doesn't have to be difficult, thanks to the Medical Records Institute's survey of electronic health record trends and usages.

The survey is conducted annually among knowledgeable healthcare and IT professionals, including physicians, CIOs, and technology officers. The very specific queries and replies provide insights into what types of applications buyers regard as most helpful, what their toughest problems are, and what functions they intend to add in the very near future.

According to the most recent survey, for example, only 44% of providers are currently able to capture and review records of patients' medications. But an additional 24% of respondents plan to add that capability and, of those, about three-fourths plan to do so within one year. Only 31% currently have mobile access to patient records, but another 26% are planning to implement that function—and over three-fifths of those intend to do so within a year.