Electronic Health Records in Residential Care Communities, by Region, 2016

In 2016, only 26% of U.S. residential care communities used electronic health records (EHRs), and use varied widely by region.

Percentage of residential care communities using electronic health records, by Census region, 2016, with 95% confidence intervals. CDC.

What was measured

• The question: communities were told that an EHR is a computerized version of a resident's health and personal information used to manage their care, and asked whether they used one for purposes other than accounting or billing.
• Which communities: those that were state-regulated, had four or more beds, and provided room and board with at least two meals a day, round-the-clock on-site supervision, and help with personal care (such as bathing and dressing) or health-related services (such as medication management). Communities licensed only to serve people with mental illness or intellectual or developmental disabilities were excluded, as were those with missing data.
• Regions follow the U.S. Census Bureau's four: Northeast (CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT), Midwest (IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI), South (AL, AR, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, LA, MD, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV) and West (AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, WY).

The data come from the 2016 National Study of Long-Term Care Providers.

Sources

Based on "QuickStats: Percentage of Residential Care Communities That Use Electronic Health Records, by Census Region — United States, 2016," reported by Christine Caffrey and Vincent Rome, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain.