EHRs benefit patients and doctors, CMS says

The adoption of electronic health records by physicians and hospitals is not only benefiting the patient, but the healthcare provider, too, according to new data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

CMS reported July 17 that about 80 percent of eligible hospitals and more than 50 percent of eligible professionals who use EHRs have received incentive payments from Medicare or Medicaid, CMS reports in a press release. The payments are made possible through Medicare and Medcaid EHR incentive programs.

By using EHRs, patients have more access to their health records and the records can be easily and securely shared between healthcare providers.

“More patients than ever before are seeing the benefits of their providers using electronic health records to help better coordinate and manage their care,” said Farzad Mostashari, M.D., national coordinator for health information technology in the release. “These data show that health care professionals are not only adopting electronic health records rapidly, they’re also using them to improve care.”

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