Few Hospitals Keeping Electronic Medical Records

Washington (HealthKnowItAll) - Results of a new study suggest that few American hospitals are using digital methods of keeping their patient records.

The study was conducted by researchers and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Many feel that digital record keeping has advantages over paper filing, due to the decreased risk of medical error, and increased levels of efficiency.

Those who side with the ancient way of doing things, say that electronic record keeping causes problems because many doctors are unfamiliar with new technology.

The cost is also very high to convert from paper filing to electronic filing, another disadvantage to the proposed system.

The study found that up to 98% of U.S. hospitals are still using paper methods of keeping charts, while only 2% of hospitals are operating digitally.

“We are at a very early stage in adoption, a very low stage compared to other countries,” stated one of the study authors, David Blumenthal, head of the Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital.