The Article in Brief
Jesse C. Crosson , and colleagues
Background It is widely expected that use of electronic health records (EHRs) will lead to improvements in health care safety, quality, and efficiency. This study analyzes diabetes care outcomes in practices that use an EHR compared with those using paper records.
What This Study Found Over a 3-year period, practices using an EHR did not make more rapid quality improvements than practices using paper records and, after 2 years, had poorer diabetes care quality.
Implications
- Having an EHR as opposed to a paper-based record keeping system does not guarantee better care.
- Adopting an EHR requires corresponding changes in work processes and ways of thinking about care that lead to improvements in chronic illness management.