A new research study, published in a recent issue of Health Affairs, analyzed the implementation of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems in hospitals since the enactment of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH).

The study discovered that the number of hospitals that have implemented a basic or extensive EHR system has increased steadily since 2010 but few providers can meet all of the Stage 2 meaningful use criteria.

Researchers found that while 58.9 percent of hospitals had adopted an elemental or comprehensive EHR, quadruple the percentage in 2010, only 5.8 percent met the criteria for Stage 2 meaningful-use readiness. Most hospitals say they are able to meet many stage 2 objectives, just not all of them.

The researchers note that approximately 90 percent of hospitals can use their EHR to record vital signs, smoking status, and patient demographic characteristics. A comparable large number of hospitals can track medications through an electronic medication administration record (eMAR). On the low end, only 10 percent have met the patient view, download, and transmit criteria, and a similarly low number were able to provide summary of care records for transitions.

The study was led by Julia Adler-Milstein, Ph.D., University of Michigan School of Public Health assistant professor of information, and examined the 2013 American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey of Hospitals–IT supplement.