EMR deadline does not compute: Falling short of 2014 goals

Although individual physicians have embraced electronic medical record systems, the nation is far from an interconnected, interoperable network. Costs, hassle and a lack of congressional action are among the factors slowing health IT development.

By Dave Hansen, AMNews staff. May 19, 2008.

In 2004, President Bush set a goal of most Americans using an electronic medical record by 2014. In his vision, doctors by then would be using EMR systems with interoperable standards that would allow them to share lab results, images, computerized orders and prescription information with hospitals and other health facilities.

So how much progress has been made in the past four years? Not nearly enough, many EMR experts say.

The nation's medical community is not substantially closer to an interconnected, interoperable EMR system now than it was in 2004, concluded a January California HealthCare Foundation report based on interviews conducted last summer with 22 health information technology experts from across the country.

The reasons for the insufficient progress are many, according to the report, "Gauging the Progress of the National Health Information Technology Initiative." They include slow adoption of EMRs by physician practices, the impractical nature of a national health information network, the difficulty of creating interoperability standards and Congress' failure to pass legislation addressing health IT roadblocks.

Only 14% of physicians have minimally functional EMR systems, found a July 2007 survey conducted by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. The office, created by Bush to guide the work on EMR standards and coordinate public and private efforts, defines minimally functional systems as those on which doctors can record and manage progress notes, order tests, record test results and electronically prescribe medications.