Electronic Health Reporter

Interesting insight below from Practice Fusion about meaningful use stage 2 adoption trends, specifically state-by-state rates of effective EHR adoption. Am I surprised that large states like California and New York lag behind the rest of the country in EHR adoption progress? For some reason, I’m not really.

What surprises me here is that my native state of South Dakota leads every state in the country in the adoption of EHRs with Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and North Dakota all making the top 10.

I’m also surprised that no other state really comes close to So. Dak. Minnesota, the next closest state in level of adoption is a full 10 percent behind.

Nevertheless, what does this suggest about rural healthcare facilities? Do they need the money more than their urban counterparts? Does the technology make it easier for them to practice with such a dispersed population or are they just able to make the move more quickly because they are smaller, more agile facilities?

The last reason is less likely. I’d think it’s a combination of the first two points I make, and that they fee the technology makes it easier to communicate and track patient outcomes across their respective geographies.

I’d love your thoughts.

The second chart below tells which organizations are implementing specifically. It’s no surprise to me that family practice has a healthy lead.

The data below is compiled from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Take a look at the data. I’d love to hear your thoughts, especially if you are in a place like California, New York … or South Dakota.