Vendors using standards in software design; buyers lag behind

Health Management Technology, Dec, 2004

Ninety-seven percent of healthcare IT vendors are familiar with and 61 percent use the HL7 EHR draft standard to guide the design of their electronic health record (EHR) software products, according to a survey released in November. Despite this high level of awareness in vendors, the survey conducted by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) also indicates that the purchasers of EHR products lack knowledge about the EHR model and HL7 standards. Only 13 percent of vendors said their customers frequently mention the standards in requests for information or product discussions, while 40 percent of vendors say their customers have yet to refer to the standards at all.

The survey also identified challenges in creating compliant EHRs. Nearly half of vendors (47 percent) said their biggest obstacles related to interoperability, meeting standards for extracting and sharing data among systems, and maintaining a legal record.

More than half the vendors said they offer SNOMEDCT, a medical vocabulary created by the College of American Pathologists and a key clinical language standard needed for a national health information infrastructure. In May, the Department of Health and Human Services began offering SNOMED CT free of charge for use in the U.S. through the National Library of Medicine.

Vendors expressed optimism about the adoption of EHRs nationwide, projecting that EHRs will be in use in 60 percent of acute care facilities and 50 percent of physicians' practices within the next five years. Actual use estimates vary widely, but most show EHR use in less than 30 percent of organizations; AHIMA re-reported data showing use of EHRs in 2002 at 13 percent for hospitals and between 14 and 28 percent for physicians' practices. A summary of survey results is available at www.ahima.org/pdf_files/state_EHR.pdf.>

COPYRIGHT 2004 Nelson Publishing

COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group