How Are CHIPRA Quality Demonstration States Testing the Children's Electronic Health Record Format?
Evidence | Publications

How Are CHIPRA Quality Demonstration States Testing the Children's Electronic Health Record Format?

The National Evaluation of the CHIPRA Quality Demonstration Grant Program, Evaluation Highlight No. 10
Published: Aug 30, 2014
Publisher: Washington, DC: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Health Delivery System Reforms Medicaid and CHIP Research and Evaluation Evaluation Design Policy Analysis
Download
Full Publication
Key Findings

Key Findings: 

  • State and provider stakeholders in North Carolina and Pennsylvania generally agreed that the Format addresses many child-specific functions not addressed by current EHRs.
  • Practices and health systems discovered that their EHRs did not meet many Format requirements, although some requirements were available through the purchase of an EHR upgrade. When requirements were already present in EHRs but could not be accessed readily, the Format drove discussions about the needs and expectations of EHR users.
  • Incorporating the Format requirements into current EHRs was challenging. Pennsylvania health systems prioritized the changes they would try to make to their EHRs, whereas EHR coaches in North Carolina chose to focus on training practices to improve their use of EHRs.
  • State, health system, and practice staff in North Carolina and Pennsylvania said that EHR vendors were reluctant to engage in their projects because of other priorities. An EHR certification module for child health, even if limited to a subset of high-priority Format requirements, could help spur desired change in child-specific EHR functionality.

This Evaluation Highlight is the tenth in a series that presents descriptive and analytic findings from the CMS-funded national evaluation of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) Quality Demonstration Grant Program. This Highlight focuses on how North Carolina and Pennsylvania are testing how well the Children's Electronic Health Record (EHR) Format's requirements support the provision of primary care to children and how readily the requirements can be incorporated into existing EHRs. The experiences and feedback from North Carolina and Pennsylvania have implications for States and other stakeholders interested in using EHRs as a tool for measuring and improving children's health care quality.

How do you apply evidence?

Take our quick four-question survey to help us curate evidence and insights that serve you.

Take our survey