New Survey: Community Health Centers Make Big Gains in Health Information Technology Use

Use of electronic health records more than doubled in federally qualified health centers between 2009 and 2013, according to a new Commonwealth Fund national survey of health center leaders. Spurred by federal investments and financial incentives to more fully embrace electronic health records and other health information technology (HIT), 85 percent of centers—which provide care to people regardless of their health insurance or ability to pay—reported they had achieved advanced HIT capabilities in 2013, meaning they could perform at least nine of 13 functions, such as electronically prescribing medications. The rate in 2009 was just 30 percent.

Learn more about the survey findings in these two issue briefs:

• Ready or Not? How Community Health Centers View Their Preparedness to Care for Newly Insured Patients
• The Adoption and Use of Health Information Technology by Community Health Centers, 2009–2013.