Electronic Medical Records and Diabetes Quality of Care: Results From a Sample of Family Medicine Practices
Ann Fam Med Crosson et al.
5: 209
The Article in Brief
Electronic Medical Records and Diabetes Quality of Care: Results From a Sample of Family Medicine Practices
Jesse C. Crosson, PhD
, and colleagues
Background Electronic medical records (EMRs) can help medical practices manage complex information for patients with diseases such as diabetes. This study looks at the relationship between the use of an EMR and the quality of diabetes care in family medicine practices.
What This Study Found Practices that used electronic medical records were less likely to meet measures for diabetes quality of care than practices without EMRs. This finding might be due to differences in features of the EMR, the degree to which clinicians used the EMR, and resources available to support these efforts.
Implications
- Having an electronic medical record does not guarantee that quality of care will improve. More study is needed to determine how EMRs can help support quality of care for patients with chronic illnesses such as diabetes.
- Policy makers and primary care practice owners should consider how to maintain and improve quality both during and after the implementation of an EMR.
- EMR companies should be encouraged to develop products with easy-to-use features that support improved health care quality in primary care practices.
