NCHS data brief
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In 2007, about 5,900 of the 14,500 providers of home health or hospice care (41%) had electronic medical records (EMRs), and an additional 2,200 (15%) planned to have EMRs within the next year. Providers who offered both hospice and home health care were more likely to have EMRs than providers offering only home health care, but did not differ from providers of hospice care only. Among providers with EMRs, 98% used components for recording patient demographics and 83% for clinical notes, and over one-half used clinical decision support systems or computerized physician order entry. Nonprofit and government providers, providers jointly owned or operated with other health care organizations, and providers with over 150 patients were more likely to have EMRs.
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The number of noninjury emergency department (ED) visits in which abdominal pain was the primary reason for the visit increased 31.8%. The percentage of ED visits for which chest pain was the primary reason decreased 10.0%. Use of advanced medical imaging increased strongly for ED visits related to abdominal pain (122.6%) and chest pain (367.6%). ⋯ Advanced medical imaging is often ordered to assist in both diagnosing and ruling out serious illness associated with these symptoms. This report describes trends in visits for chest and abdominal pain in adults and the seriousness of illness and use of imaging in these visits. All data shown are for persons aged 18 and over whose visit was not injury related.