U.S. doctors making slow shift to digital records

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Only a fraction of American doctors have switched from conventional paper records to electronic health records, with most citing cost as the biggest stumbling block, a national survey showed on Wednesday.

Researchers found that just 4 percent of physicians have adopted "fully functional" computerized health records systems that help them make decisions about patient care or order tests. Another 13 percent have a more basic system.

Electronic health records promise to reduce costly medical errors due to things like bad handwriting and make it easier for doctors to follow a patient's care over time.

More advanced systems can flag dangerous drug combinations, or offer advice about tests or drugs to prescribe.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly would provide $150 million to 12 cities and states to help more doctors set up electronic medical systems. The five-year effort is aimed at getting smaller and mid-size physician practices to make the switch.

President George W. Bush had set a goal for all Americans to have electronic health records by 2014.

"Clearly the results show we are long way from universal adoption by 2014," said Catherine DesRoches of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, whose study appears in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"When we looked at the major barriers we found that the cost of the systems were the most commonly cited reason," she said in a conference call.