EHR and other IT adoption among physicians: results of a large-scale statewide analysis

Despite a national push toward the adoption of health information technologies, much is still unknown about the use of IT in physician's offices. We surveyed all primary care physicians and a 25 percent stratified random sample of other specialists (total n=14,921) in Florida to better understand current trends and factors related to the use of IT in the ambulatory setting. Data was analyzed using logistic regression modeling techniques to compute adjusted odds ratios. Covariates included practice size, medical training, practice type, age, race, and gender Routine office computer use (80 percent) was found to be very common for administrative functions. The use of quality enhancing technologies such as PDAs (37.5 percent), use of e-mail with patients (16.6 percent) and EHR (23.7 percent) was less common. Overall, large practice size, specialty practice, physician age and gender, and multi-specialty practice affiliation were significantly related to the use of many, but not all, of these IT applications in the ambulatory setting.