EMR Equals Lower Mortality, Fewer Complications, Lower Costs
Clinical question: Is improved automation of hospital information associated with reduced rates of inpatient mortality, complications, cost, and length of stay (LOS)?
Background: Clinical information technologies, including electronic medical records (EMR), are touted as an antidote for the fragmented, unsafe, and expensive American healthcare system. Most studies on the effect of such technologies are limited to a single site, and few involve commercially available information systems.
Study design: Cross-sectional study.
Setting: Urban hospitals in Texas.
Synopsis: Researchers used the previously validated Clinical Information Technology Assessment Tool to survey physicians providing inpatient care in 72 Texas hospitals. This tool measures the degree to which clinical information processes are computerized. Automation is divided into four subdomains: test results, notes and records, order entry, and decision support. To achieve a high score, a process must be fully computerized, the physician must know how to activate it, and the physician must choose the computerized process over alternatives. The authors examined the association between a hospital’s degree of automation and mortality, costs, and LOS among patients with myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, coronary artery bypass grafting, and pneumonia.
Overall, greater automation was associated with lower mortality, fewer complications, and lower costs. No clear impact on LOS was found. Higher scores in the notes and records subdomains were most associated with lower mortality. Higher decision-support scores were most associated with lower complication rates and costs.
This study is one of the first to demonstrate the benefits of clinical information technologies across a variety of institutions using different information systems.
Bottom line: Hospitals with EMR, order entry, and clinical decision support have lower mortality rates, fewer complications, and lower costs.
Citation: Amarasingham R, Plantinga L, Diener-West M, et al. Clinical information technologies and inpatient outcomes. Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(2):108-114.