AMIA offers recommendations for greater EHR adoption

A 15-person task force created by the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) has released its recommendations for advancing the use of electronic health records (EHRs) through 2020.

The report aims to make EHRs more patient/resident-centric while also simplifying clinical documentation, refocusing government regulations, increasing the transparency of EHR certification and encouraging innovation by information technology (IT) developers.

The main points of the 10 recommendations set out in the report:

1. Decrease data entry burden for the clinician.
2. Separate data entry from data reporting.
3. EHRs should enable systematic learning and research at the point of care during routine practice.
4. Regulation should focus on clarifying and simplifying EHR certification, improving data exchange and interoperability, reducing the need to re-enter data and prioritizing patient outcomes.
5. Changes in reimbursement models should support innovations in EHR systems.
6. Increase transparency in EHR certification on the part of vendors.
7. Increase transparency about unintended consequences or safety risks in health IT systems, including EHRs.
8. Vendors should use application programming interfaces and standards that will drive innovations.
9. Integrate EHRs into all healthcare settings including long-term care and incorporate data from multiple sources including patient/resident-generated data.
10. Improve interface designs so they support how people think (cognitive-support design).