The U.S. health care system lags behind many other industrialized nations in health IT adoption and other measures related to health care access and quality, according to a Commonwealth Fund study, Healthcare IT News reports.

The study was published online today in the journal Health Affairs (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 11/5).

For the study, researchers surveyed more than 10,000 primary care physicians in 11 countries between February and July 2009 (Steenhuysen, Reuters, 11/5).

EHR Adoption

The study found that 46% of U.S. physicians use electronic health records, up from 28% in 2006.

The researchers found that 99% of doctors in the Netherlands use EHRs. Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the U.K. also reported EHR adoption rates of 94% or higher.

Among the surveyed countries, only Canada lagged behind the U.S., with an EHR adoption rate of 37% (Simmons, HealthLeaders Media, 11/5).

The study also found that advanced EHR use in the U.S. tends to occur in large, integrated group practices. Researchers noted that the countries with the highest EHR adoption rates reported no significant differences in rates of advanced use among physician practices of different sizes (Robeznieks, Modern Healthcare, 11/5).

Tracking Medical Errors

Researchers found that at least half of the physicians in Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands have a process to track adverse medical events.

They noted that 20% of U.S. doctors said they have an effective risk monitoring system, while a third of U.S. physicians said they have no such system (HealthLeaders Media, 11/5).

Recommendations

Researchers recommended that the U.S. government offer financial incentives to encourage greater EHR adoption among physicians nationwide.

They also noted that some current health care reform proposals could help address these issues (Healthcare IT News, 11/5).