MGMA new survey finds mixed approaches to analyzing their EHRs

According to the new survey from MGMA, medical practices have mixed approaches to analyzing and organizing their EHRs (electronic health records) data.
The MGMA survey found 31% said that they use their EHR analytics capabilities to the fullest extent; another 31% claimed that they deploy a combination of EHR analytics along with assistance from an external vendor partner; 22% said they utilize some of their EHR's analytic capabilities; and 5% said they depend on an external vendor.

In accordance to the poll, but a not-insubstantial 11% of survey-takers said they do not perform analytics at all on their EHR (electronic health record) data.
Derek Kosiorek, MGMA Principal, said that he understands the broad disparity in analytic maturity of providers. After all, most EHRs were not developed for data analytics, but as electronic information repositories.
In the post-meaningful use electronic health record rush, several systems, in case to be more palatable to paper-reliant physicians, were developed to emulate paper records, he said in a blog post, instead to interpret, aggregate or manage the records.
Kosiorek said, “For several practices, reports produced by the electronic health record were either pre-installed with the product or configured by the vendor during the implementation. To these groups, the capability to generate new analytics walks out the door with the product implementation team."
Even savvy medical staffs are compelled to depend on assistance or add-ons from outside vendors to assist them with analytics.
He said that but even though several physician practices do not have the resources to do so, the value-based care’s imperatives make the capability to leverage clinical, administrative and financial data vital.
The great news is that electronic health records and analytics tools are "improving in exciting ways and will soon live up to the promise that brought us into the electronic age," asserts Kosiorek. "I mostly say that clinical providers don’t dislike EHRs as a concept – they dislike the EHRs they have been given. Today, it is more complex to get the job done with the tool than it is without it. But data analytics have the power to change all that."