Ohio leads nation in EHR adoption

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius visited Cleveland this week to highlight Ohio’s nation-leading success in adopting electronic health records (Source: “HHS Sec. Sebelius uses Cleveland as electronic medical records platform,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Nov. 30, 2011).

Earlier this week, the Ohio Health Information Partnership announced that 5,760 Ohio physicians and healthcare professionals have committed to using EHRs in their practices, clinics and hospitals. That is the highest total of any state in the nation.

“This is the first step toward our goal of saving time, money, and lives through an electronic network that will improve health care for all Ohioans,” said Dan Paoletti, chief executive officer of the Ohio Health Information Partnership, in a news release. “We commend all of the Ohio physicians who have chosen to switch from paper to electronic health records or to upgrade their existing systems. You’ve made Ohio proud.”

To learn more about health information technology development in Ohio, please read HPIO’s recent Health Policy Primer, “Making the connection: A progress report on the history and status of statewide HIT and HIE implementation in Ohio” (pdf, 4 pages).