Use of Health Information Technology by Rhode Island Physicians and Advanced Practice Providers, 2019

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) has administered the Health Information Technology (HIT) Survey since 2009 to report clinician-level process measures relating to HIT adoption and use.

RIDOH administers the Rhode Island HIT Survey to all licensed independent practitioners. Descriptive analyses examined HIT adoption and the clinician experience working with HIT.

Most physician and Advanced Practice Provider (APP) respondents report using an EHR (92.5% and 94.3%) and e-prescribing medications (84.1% and 81.6%). Less than half of physicians (40.9% or n=565) and APPs (35.4% or n=195) who prescribe controlled substances currently submit controlled substance prescriptions electronically. A higher percentage of physicians, compared to APPs, reported experiencing HIT-related stress (80.9% and 66.6%). The overall prevalence of physicians reporting symptoms of burnout was 29.7% (n=539) but varied between specialties.

As of 2019, the majority of Rhode Island physicians have adopted EHRs and e-prescribing. Adoption plateaued after 2012, and challenges persist in integrating existing technology into practice.