Electronic Medical Records Don't Guarantee Improved Care

Implementation of an electronic medical record (EMR) system in a medical practice does not assure quality care for people with diabetes, according to a study reported recently in Annals of Family Medicine.

A group of researchers audited medical records from 13 practices with EMR systems and 37 practices without them. The medical practices, located in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, were participating in a practice improvement study. For each practice, investigators looked at adherence to guidelines for diabetes processes of care, treatment, and achievement of outcomes such as levels of glygated hemoglobin.

Overall, the quality of care in all practices showed room for improvement, according to the researchers. But they found better care in practices without EMRs. Practices without such systems were 2.25 times more likely to meet process guidelines, 1.6 times more likely to meet treatment standards, and 2.6 times more likely to meet outcome targets.

The authors conclude that, “Simply having an EMR does not guarantee higher quality care.” Practices that wish to expand use of EMRs should focus not just on adopting the technology, but also on developing methods to integrate the technology into office operations, the researchers suggest.