Minnesota clinics' adoption, use and exchange of electronic health information

In 2007, Minnesota passed a law requiring all health care providers in the state to implement an interoperable electronic health record (EHR) system by January 1, 2015. Since then, the Minnesota Department of Health has been monitoring progress each year by surveying hospitals, clinics and other health and health care facilities about their EHR use. This article summarizes findings from the 2013 survey of ambulatory clinics. Those results show Minnesota clinics are well on the way to achieving the state's goals for using EHRs to exchange information: 87% of clinics have adopted EHRs, 80% routinely use medication guides and alerts, and 36% exchange health information with unaffiliated settings.