Study: Health IT use could affect physicians' capacity to see patients

The increased use of health IT among providers could reduce the number of patients physicians are able to see, according to a study published in the American Journal of Managed Care. The study was based on survey responses from primary care physicians in Michigan. The survey -- by the Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation and the University of Michigan Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit -- was conducted between October 2012 and December 2012 and included a total of 739 respondents. The study found that physicians used a mean of 5.1 health IT services. The most commonly used health IT service was electronic prescribing, while a Web portal for patients to schedule appointments was the least common.