A survey conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) finds that few pediatricians are using pediatric-supportive electronic health records (EHRs) , especially in smaller group practices and rural or inner-city regions.
A study, "Pediatricians' Use of Health Information Technology: A National Survey," in the December 2012 Pediatrics (published online Nov. 19), surveyed 646 postresidency pediatricians working in office- or clinic-based practices, and found that only 3 percent used or planned to adopt EHR systems that are both fully functional and pediatric supportive.
More than half of pediatricians cited the cost as a major obstacle in implementing an EHR, and more than one-third of respondents were concerned about loss of productivity. Systems adopted lacked key features to help care for pediatric patients, such as immunization tracking, weight-based dosing and growth charts/percentile calculation.
Study authors conclude that it is important to either encourage vendors to prioritize these features, or provide ways to streamline development of these features for more widespread use by pediatricians.
Editor's Note: A related commentary, "We Are Still Waiting for Fully Supportive Electronic Health Records in Pediatrics," will also be published on Nov. 19.
