Research Stories

by Carrie Barnett

Computer are great tools to manage mountains of information, but not everyone uses them to their full potential. ASU researchers found that only about a third of doctors now use computers for patient notes, and about 10 percent use them to prescribe electronically.

The researchers, from ASU'S W. P. Carey School of Business, wanted to uncover the reasons for this reluctance. Their conclusion: If you want to understand how likely doctors are to use information technology, look at how they get paid.

Michael Furukawa and Jonathan Ketcham, assistant professors in the School of Health Management and Policy, worked on the study with Mary Rimsza, medical director of the Center for Health Information and Research at the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering. They found physicians with the highest rate of IT adoption were those paid under a managed care system known as capitation. It allots to physicians a set amount of money for care of each patient. Physicians under this system have a strong incentive to be efficient.

"Because physicians are at financial risk, they have a greater incentive to invest in information technology," Ketcham says.

A widely used alternative method to pay doctors provides a set fee for a particular service. The researchers found that this method did not appear to promote the use of advanced technology.

However, doctors who receive much of their revenue from Medicaid also tend to use electronic records, perhaps making it easier to care for low-income patients who may have trouble keeping track of their own health. In addition, studies show electronic records help to reduce clinical errors.

Physicians appear to be influenced by the policies of payers. The ASU researchers say this should be seen as good news for parties desiring wider use of clinical information technology.

This story was excerpted from the Knowledge @ W. P. Carey web site. To see the full article or other stories from ASU's W. P. Carey School of Business, go to: http://knowledge.wpcarey.asu.edu