For the study, the researchers reviewed medical outcomes from 21,000-plus patients included in a national heart failure registry who were admitted to a hospital in 2008. The hospitals included in the registry included 1,484 with no EHR, 13,473 with a partial EHR and 6,265 with a full EHR.
The researchers determined there was no association between a hospital’s degree of EHR implementation and its in-hospital quality metrics, or between the hospital’s EHR status and its in-hospital patient outcomes. The researchers also analyzed a subset of 8,421 Medicare patients, and found no association between EHR status and 30-day mortality or readmissions.
“Our results suggest that EHR may not be sufficient to improve [heart failure] quality or related outcomes,” the study authors concluded.
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