By Rebecca Adams, CQ Roll Call
February 19, 2015 -- The number of hospital emergency departments using an electronic health record rose from 46 percent in 2006 to 84 percent in 2011, according to a new analysis by the National Center on Health Statistics (NCHS).
The number of hospital outpatient departments using an electronic health system rose from 29 percent in 2006 to 73 percent in 2011, according to the NCHS, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The findings mirror previous information about the growing use of electronic health records, in large part because providers that participate in Medicare and Medicaid are financially incentivized for building an electronic health system that meets certain criteria—and penalized if they don't.
Electronic health records are beneficial in meeting the goals of the Department of Health and Human Services' move toward a more value-based system rather than one in which payments are based on volume.