Physicians Who Use EHRs Experience Fewer Malpractice Claims, Study Finds

The rate of malpractice claims for physicians who use electronic health records (EHRs) is roughly six times less than the rate of malpractice claims for physicians who do not use EHRs, according to the results of a study published online June 25, 2012, in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The researchers merged closed-claims data from a major malpractice insurer in Massachusetts for physicians covered from 1995 to 2007 with data from surveys administered to a random sample of Massachusetts physicians in 2005 and 2007, comprising a final sample of 275 and 189 physicians, respectively. Of the 189 physicians surveyed in both 2005 and 2007, a total of 27 (14.3%) were named in at least one malpractice claim.