Diplomate Spotlight Opening Doors with Board Certification: A Conversation with Long Standing Diplomate Joseph Cook Read Opening Doors with Board Certification: A Conversation with Long Standing Diplomate Joseph Cook
Phoenix Newsletter - July 2025 Available Now: 2026 5-Year Cycle Registration Read Available Now: 2026 5-Year Cycle Registration
Home Research Research Library Do family physicians electronic health records support meaningful use? Do family physicians electronic health records support meaningful use? 2015 Author(s) Peterson, Lars E, Blackburn, Brenna E, Ivins, D J, Mitchell, J M, Matson, C, and Phillips, Robert L Topic(s) Role of Primary Care, and Achieving Health System Goals Keyword(s) Health Information Technology (HIT), and Quality Of Care Volume HealthCare Source HealthCare BACKGROUND: Spurred by government incentives, the use of electronic health records (EHRs) in the United States has increased; however, whether these EHRs have the functionality necessary to meet meaningful use (MU) criteria remains unknown. Our objective was to characterize family physician access to MU functionality when using a MU-certified EHR. METHODS: Data were obtained from a convenience survey of family physicians accessing their American Board of Family Medicine online portfolio in 2011. A brief survey queried MU functionality. We used descriptive statistics to characterize the responses and bivariate statistics to test associations between MU and patient communication functions by presence of a MU-certified EHR. RESULTS: Out of 3855 respondents, 60% reported having an EHR that supports MU. Physicians with MU-certified EHRs were more likely than physicians without MU-certified EHRs to report patient registry activities (49.7% vs. 32.3%, p-value<0.01), tracking quality measures (74.1% vs. 56.4%, p-value<0.01), access to labs or consultation notes, and electronic prescribing; but electronic communication abilities were low regardless of EHR capabilities. CONCLUSIONS: Family physicians with MU-certified EHRs are more likely to report MU functionality; however, a sizeable minority does not report MU functions. IMPLICATIONS: Many family physicians with MU-certified EHRs may not successfully meet the successively stringent MU criteria and may face significant upgrade costs to do so. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Cross sectional survey. ABFM Research Read all 2025 Factors Associated with Documenting Social Determinants of Health in Electronic Health Records Go to Factors Associated with Documenting Social Determinants of Health in Electronic Health Records 2018 Practice Rurality of Family Physicians Enrolled in a Practice Transformation Network Go to Practice Rurality of Family Physicians Enrolled in a Practice Transformation Network 2022 Underrepresented Minority Family Physicians More Likely to Care for Vulnerable Populations Go to Underrepresented Minority Family Physicians More Likely to Care for Vulnerable Populations 2021 Advancing primary care with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Go to Advancing primary care with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Author(s) Peterson, Lars E, Blackburn, Brenna E, Ivins, D J, Mitchell, J M, Matson, C, and Phillips, Robert L Topic(s) Role of Primary Care, and Achieving Health System Goals Keyword(s) Health Information Technology (HIT), and Quality Of Care Volume HealthCare Source HealthCare
ABFM Research Read all 2025 Factors Associated with Documenting Social Determinants of Health in Electronic Health Records Go to Factors Associated with Documenting Social Determinants of Health in Electronic Health Records 2018 Practice Rurality of Family Physicians Enrolled in a Practice Transformation Network Go to Practice Rurality of Family Physicians Enrolled in a Practice Transformation Network 2022 Underrepresented Minority Family Physicians More Likely to Care for Vulnerable Populations Go to Underrepresented Minority Family Physicians More Likely to Care for Vulnerable Populations 2021 Advancing primary care with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Go to Advancing primary care with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
2025 Factors Associated with Documenting Social Determinants of Health in Electronic Health Records Go to Factors Associated with Documenting Social Determinants of Health in Electronic Health Records
2018 Practice Rurality of Family Physicians Enrolled in a Practice Transformation Network Go to Practice Rurality of Family Physicians Enrolled in a Practice Transformation Network
2022 Underrepresented Minority Family Physicians More Likely to Care for Vulnerable Populations Go to Underrepresented Minority Family Physicians More Likely to Care for Vulnerable Populations
2021 Advancing primary care with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Go to Advancing primary care with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning