High-intensity technical assistance might be key to realizing quality gains from the use of electronic health-record systems among small-practice doctors caring for patients in underserved areas, a new study suggests.
The study, published in Health Affairs and undertaken by researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College and the Primary Care Information Project of the New York City Health Department, found that EHR implementation alone was not enough to improve the quality of care provided by the primary-care physicians studied, who worked in small practices in underserved neighborhoods in New York. Physicians receiving assistance from the Primary Care Information Project scored higher on selected quality measures than physicians not receiving the assistance. The Primary Care Information Project provided subsidized EHR software, clinical-decision support and onsite technical assistance to about 3,300 physicians at roughly 600 primary-care practices, according to a Weill Cornell news release.