[Techtaffy Newsdesk]

An Accenture survey has found that healthcare IT is improving health practices and there is common agreement on the top benefits of technology across countries. But some physicians do not yet see all the benefits, especially those over 50 or those who are not actively using healthcare IT, such as electronic medical records (EMR) and health information exchanges (HIE).

The physician quantitative research — part of an Accenture Connected Health Study — surveyed 500 doctors per country in Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Spain and the United States and 200 doctors in Singapore between August and September 2011. The research measured physician attitudes toward “Connected Health,”  an approach to healthcare delivery that leverages the systematic application of healthcare IT to facilitate the accessing and sharing of information and the analysis of data across the healthcare system.

Global Findings

The majority of doctors in all of the countries surveyed believe that healthcare IT does provide some common top benefits, including better access to quality data for clinical research (70.9 per cent reported positive benefits), improved coordination of care (69.1 per cent) and a reduction in medical errors (66 per cent).

But, some doctors do not yet see all the benefits of healthcare IT, with high percentages reporting either a negative impact, no impact or didn’t know for reducing unneeded procedures (43.6 per cent), improving access to services (43 per cent), or improving patient outcomes (39.2 per cent).

Those physicians who are routine users of healthcare IT, however, rated the overall benefits more positively than their counterparts who are less actively involved with these technologies.

U.S. Findings 

U.S. physicians, however, rated the benefits of EMR and HIE lower than their international colleagues:

• The U.S. had the lowest number of doctors (45 per cent) who think healthcare IT will improve diagnostic decisions — compared to 61 per cent globally.

• Just 45 per cent reported that technology leads to improved health outcomes for patients, against a survey average of 59 per cent.

• Only 47 per cent of U.S. doctors reported that healthcare technology has helped improve quality of treatment decisions—compared to 61 per cent globally.

“The survey shows that more needs to be done to bridge the disconnect between physician perceptions and the U.S. federal government’s goal of increasing the adoption of meaningful use standards,” said Rick Ratliff, global lead, Accenture Connected Health Services.  “The challenge is to encourage behavioral change across the healthcare system through education and ongoing communication, helping physicians to embrace greater use of healthcare IT to demonstrate the value of Connected Health.”

Country Comparisons

The survey also revealed that doctors across the eight countries have somewhat similar perceptions about the top benefits of healthcare IT.  However, doctors in Singapore and Spain perceive a more positive impact compared to their counterparts in the United States and Australia.

Age Divide

There was a statistically significant contrast in attitudes among doctors over and under 50 years of age.  The Accenture study found that doctors under 50 are more likely to believe that healthcare IT has a positive impact across a wide range of perceived benefits, including improved health outcomes for patients, increased speed of access to health services and reductions in medical errors. More than 72 per cent of doctors under 50 think EMR and HIE will improve care coordination across settings and service boundaries. And, 73 per cent believe these technologies will offer better access to quality data for clinical research. These numbers vary, however, for doctors over 50—only 65 per cent and 68 per cent respectively perceive the same benefits.

Routine Users of Healthcare IT

The Accenture study also asked physicians about the extent to which they used 12 different “functions” of EMR and HIE (health information exchange) such as electronic entry of patient notes, electronic referrals to or from other physicians, electronic ordering, electronic prescribing and communicating with other physicians or patients via secure email.  The results showed that physicians who are routine users of a wider range of healthcare IT functions have a more positive attitude toward the benefits these technologies bring. The survey shows that, on average across all the countries, as physicians start to use more “functions” the more positive they are about the benefits.

“The Accenture physician survey was designed to ask the question: ‘Are we making progress in Connected Health?’  And we now know that the answer is yes. Doctors are beginning to see the benefits of using healthcare IT solutions to improve integration of care delivery,” Ratliff added.

Methodology

Accenture conducted an online survey of 3,727 physicians across eight countries: Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Singapore, Spain and the United States.  Five hundred physicians were interviewed per country (and 200 for Singapore) between August and September 2011.

[Original upload Date: 01-21-12]