Use of Electronic Health Records among Patients with Diabetes

Can the use of electronic health records (EHRs) reduce emergency room visits?… 

Use of electronic EHRs among the diabetic outpatient population was associated with slight decreases in emergency department visits and hospitalizations, but caused no change among office visit rates.

Since a large chunk of U.S. healthcare costs come from the management of chronic diseases, better management of conditions such as diabetes is needed to reduce these costs.

Due to the large incentives tied to the utilization of EHRs, their use in the United States has progressively increased. The advantages that come with electronic health records include its ability to access complete patient information in a timely manner and its improved approach towards care coordination. However, there is some conflicting evidence on the "effect of EHRs on health outcomes or clinical events."

Between 2005 and 2008, Kaiser Permanente studied the impact EHR implementation in outpatient clinics had on the healthcare delivery system. Mary Reed, DrPH, and colleagues from Kaiser Permanente looked at the relationship between EHR use and emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and office visits among patients with diabetes between 2004 and 2009.

After the use of EHRs in outpatient settings, about a 5.5% decline of ED visits was seen and hospitalizations also decreased by about 5%, with fewer non-elective hospitalizations. However, there was no statistically significant difference in office visit rates after the use of electronic health records.

The authors of the study believe more studies are needed to "quantify the association of EHR use with changes in costs." 

Annals of Internal Medicine, Aug, 2013