Electronic health records and technical assistance to improve quality of primary care: Lessons for regional extension centers

Samuel J Boas; Tara F Bishop; Andrew M Ryan; Sarah C Shih; Lawrence P Casalino

doi:10.1016/j.hjdsi.2013.10.003

Electronic health records and technical assistance to improve quality of primary care: Lessons for regional extension centers

Healthc (Amst). 2014 Jul;2(2):103-6. doi: 10.1016/j.hjdsi.2013.10.003. Epub 2014 Jul 10.

Authors

Samuel J Boas¹, Tara F Bishop², Andrew M Ryan¹, Sarah C Shih³, Lawrence P Casalino¹

Affiliations

¹ Weill Cornell Medical College, NY, USA.
² Division of Outcomes and Effectiveness, Department of Public Health, Weill Cornell Medical College, 402 E. 67th St., Room LA-218, NY 10021, USA; Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, NY, USA. Electronic address: tlfernan@med.cornell.edu.
³ Primary Care Information Project, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Queens, NY, USA.

PMID: 26250377
DOI: 10.1016/j.hjdsi.2013.10.003

Abstract

Background: In 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act apportioned $643 million for a Health Information Technology Extension Program, which established Regional Extension Centers (RECs) to support the implementation and use of electronic health records (EHRs).

Problem: Little is known, however, about how RECs should assist in EHR implementation and how they should structure ongoing support.

Goals: The purpose of this paper is to describe physicians' experiences with the Primary Care Information Project (PCIP), an REC run by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Strategy: We interviewed 17 physicians enrolled in PCIP to understand the role of the EHRon quality of care and their experience with technical assistance from PCIP.

Results: All physicians stated that they felt that the EHR improved the quality of care they delivered to their patients particularly because it helped them track patients. All the physicians found technical assistance helpful but most wanted ongoing assistance months or years after they adopted the EHR.

Keywords: Information technology; Medical informatics; Public health; Quality of health care.