23 Aug Electronic Health Record Utilization as a Measure of Hospital Care Intensity

Posted at 02:03h in Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Electronic Records, NYU by

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Saul Blecker, MD, MHS Assistant Professor Department of Population Health NYU School of Medicine 227 East 30th St., #648 New York, NY 10016Saul Blecker, MD, MHS
Assistant Professor
Department of Population Health
NYU School of Medicine
227 East 30th St., #648
New York, NY 10016
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?

Dr. Blecker: We tracked utilization of the inpatient electronic health record (EHR) as a proxy for hospital intensity of care. EHR utilization was found to have variations over time, particularly when comparing days to nights and weekdays to weekends.

MedicalResearch.com: Were any of the findings unexpected?

Dr. Blecker: The magnitude of temporal variation was significant. For instance, during daytime hours, utilization of the EHR was 75% higher on weekdays versus weekends.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Blecker: Further validation of EHR utilization as a measure of care intensity is needed. In particular, future research should address whether EHR utilization is related to clinical outcomes and whether tracking EHR utilization can be useful in improving quality of hospital care.

Citation:

Monitoring the pulse of hospital activity: Electronic health record utilization as a measure of care intensity.

Blecker S, Austrian JS, Shine D, Braithwaite RS, Radford MJ, Gourevitch MN.

Department of Population Health, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York; Department of Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, New York.
J Hosp Med. 2013 Jul 31. doi: 10.1002/jhm.2068. [Epub ahead of print]

Last Updated on November 24, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

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