Source
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) National Electronic Health Record Survey (2015-2021).
Citation
Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. ‘Electronic Health Information Exchange by Office-based Physicians,’ Health IT Quick Stat #63.
Since 2015, the National Electronic Health Record Survey has tracked physician engagement in the electronic exchange of information with other providers outside of their organization through four domains. Rates of three domains, integrating, sending and receiving information, all increased notably between 2019 and 2021 (see notes for survey method details).
Percent of physicians engaging in electronically sending, receiving, searching/querying, and integrating any health information 2015-2021.
| Exchange Domain | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Send | 38% | 36% | 34% | 39% |
| Receive | 38% | 38% | 35% | 53% *† |
| Find | 34% | 53% | 49% | 49% |
| Integrate | 31% | 28% | 29% | 38% * |
| All Four | 9% | 10% | 10% | 16% * |
The four domains of interoperability consist of electronically sending, receiving, finding, and integrating into EHR any patient health information.
* 2021 value significantly different from 2019 value (p<0.05)
† The 2017 and 2019 NEHRS included the question, “Do you ONLY send and receive patient health information through paper-based methods including fax, eFax, or mail?” Respondents who responded “No” were then asked: “Do you electronically send patient health information to other providers outside your medical organization using an EHR or Web Portal?” and “Do you electronically receive patient health information from other providers outside your medical organization using an EHR or Web Portal?”. Respondents who responded “Yes” were not asked these two questions. The 2021 NEHRS removed the initial question, “Do you ONLY send and receive…”. At least some of the increase in the proportion of physicians that indicated they “Send” and, in particular, "Receive" information electronically relate to removing this initial question and subsequent skip pattern. We suspect that this question may have suppressed rates of “Send” and “Receive” in 2017 and 2019, and the rates reported in 2021 are closer to rates observed in other data.