ABOUT EMR FLORIDA

Welcome to the EMR Florida Web site.  EMR Florida is a program of the Florida Medical Foundation, a subsidiary of the Florida Medical Association. Funding is provided by a grant from the Physicians’ Foundation for Health Systems Excellence (PFHSE). The PFHSE devotes its resources to helping physicians improve the care they deliver to patients. The PFHSE embraces the use of health information technology to improve patient care, and the purpose of the grant is to accelerate the adoption of electronic medical records (EMR). EMR Florida helps physicians who are considering adopting electronic records but have taken little or no action to do so.

A 2005 survey by the Florida State University College of Medicine of 14,921 Florida physicians found that 23.7 percent of the respondents were using electronic medical records in their practices. The survey found that primary care physicians were less likely to use EMRs than other specialists. Larger group practices were significantly more likely than solo practitioners to use EMRs. The survey also found a positive correlation between overall satisfaction with the status of one’s own medical practice and the routine usage of electronic records (Menachemi & Brooks, 2006).

EMR Florida's focus is on primary care practices in rural counties, as EMR usage in rural areas is lower than in urban areas. The goal of project staff is to identify a small number of systems that suit the needs of small primary care practices.  The Certification Commission on Health Information Technology must certify the systems.

At the end of the two-year grant period, Florida State University will evaluate the results of the program.  The evaluation will include another statewide survey of physicians to determine the penetration of EMRs in physician practices.

We hope this Web site helps you in your decision-making process about electronic medical records. Please feel free to email us with your comments.

References

Menachemi, N., & Brooks, R.G. (2006).  EHR and other IT adoption among physicians:
Results of a large-scale statewide analysis.  Journal of Healthcare Information Management, 20(3), 79-87.