healthcare technology

“Universal EHR” structures, in which every citizen’s electronic health record is connected to a single national system, are tied to higher trust in the healthcare system and higher value for patients, 

 

Unified electronic records have also prompted national governments to address issues of privacy and security, data integrity, and health information exchange that are left up to the private sector in other countries – with varying degrees of success.

 

Half of the 16 countries included in the index have universal EHRs, while the other half have let a combination of free market forces and regulatory guidance dictate the course of health IT adoption.

 

The eight countries with universal EHRs saw an average overall “Value Measure” of 47.29, the report says.  The Value Measure is a combined score based on access to care, patient satisfaction, and an efficiency ratio score.

 

Now, Healthcare providers in the United States generally don’t harbor very warm feelings for their electronic health records (EHRs).

 

Despite efforts from vendors and regulators to improve the experience of interacting with these foundational health IT systems, dissatisfaction and frustration with usability issues and fragmented information are still causing users’ blood to boil.

 

It may seem counterintuitive, therefore, to suggest that expanding the industry’s reliance on EHRs is actually the key to making EHR use less stressful and more useful – but that is exactly what the 2018 Future Health Index, commissioned by Philips, seems to indicate.