More EHR tech support may improve patient care

Primary care physicians in underserved New York neighborhoods who received a fair amount of technical assistance were more likely than those who received less or no assistance to use their electronic health records to improve the quality of care, according to a Health Affairs study from Weill Cornell Medical College investigators. The researchers looked at participants in New York's Primary Care Improvement Project (PCIP), a city program that began in 2005 and became a federally funded regional extension center (REC) in 2011. PCIP subsidized the cost of EHRs for physicians in underserved areas of New York. The doctors had to buy an eClinicalWorks EHR that had been modified to emphasize preventive care. PCIP provided technical assistance and coaching on quality improvement.