Dates of the Project: January 2006 through July 2013
Field of Work: Measuring adoption and use of electronic health record systems among physicians and hospitals
Problem Synopsis: When widespread adoption of electronic health record systems became a federal policy priority in 2004, no one knew how many physicians and hospitals had already installed the systems and what those systems included. Without reliable information, policy-makers could not determine where and at what level resources should be applied.
Synopsis of the Work: Researchers tracked electronic health record system adoption rates beginning in 2007 and analyzed differences in adoption rates by the type of physician practice or hospital.
They produced five reports and about a dozen journal articles. These analyses used data collected through surveys developed and fielded in work supported by the federal Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology. The same team of researchers (from Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard School of Public Health, Mathematica Policy Research, and—supported by the Office of the National Coordinator—George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services) worked on both projects.