TY - JOUR
T1 - Do electronic medical records improve diabetes quality in physician practices?
AU - McCullough, Jeffrey S.
AU - Christianson, Jon B
AU - Leerapan, Borwornsom
PY - 2013/2
Y1 - 2013/2
N2 - Objectives: To measure the effect of electronic medical records (EMRs) on a publicly reported composite measure indicating optimal diabetes care (ODC) rates in ambulatory settings. Study Design: Data from Minnesota Community Measurement on 557 clinics were used, including information on ODC, EMR adoption, and clinic characteristics. Methods: A difference-in-differences strategy was used to estimate the impact of EMR adoption on patient outcomes while controlling for observed and unobserved clinic characteristics. Results were compared with a cross-sectional analysis of the same data. Results: EMRs had no observable effect on ODC for the average clinic during the first 2 years postadoption. EMRs may, however, generate modest (+4 percentage point) ODC increases for clinics in large, multisite practices. Cross-sectional analysis likely overestimates the effect of EMRs on quality. Conclusions: There is little evidence that EMR adoption improves diabetes care during the first 2 years postadoption. This is notable as diabetes is a condition for which information technology has the potential to improve care management. The results suggest that policy makers should not expect public sector EMR investments to yield significant short-term improvements in publicly reported measures.
AB - Objectives: To measure the effect of electronic medical records (EMRs) on a publicly reported composite measure indicating optimal diabetes care (ODC) rates in ambulatory settings. Study Design: Data from Minnesota Community Measurement on 557 clinics were used, including information on ODC, EMR adoption, and clinic characteristics. Methods: A difference-in-differences strategy was used to estimate the impact of EMR adoption on patient outcomes while controlling for observed and unobserved clinic characteristics. Results were compared with a cross-sectional analysis of the same data. Results: EMRs had no observable effect on ODC for the average clinic during the first 2 years postadoption. EMRs may, however, generate modest (+4 percentage point) ODC increases for clinics in large, multisite practices. Cross-sectional analysis likely overestimates the effect of EMRs on quality. Conclusions: There is little evidence that EMR adoption improves diabetes care during the first 2 years postadoption. This is notable as diabetes is a condition for which information technology has the potential to improve care management. The results suggest that policy makers should not expect public sector EMR investments to yield significant short-term improvements in publicly reported measures.
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M3 - Article
C2 - 23448111
AN - SCOPUS:84875136894
SN - 1088-0224
VL - 19
SP - 144
EP - 149
JO - American Journal of Managed Care
JF - American Journal of Managed Care
IS - 2
ER -