More than two-thirds of U.S. primary care physicians were using electronic medical records in 2012, a substantial increase from 2009, when less than half had adopted the technology, a new Commonwealth Fund survey finds.
But results from the latest Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey, published in the November issue of Health Affairs, also depict the United States as an outlier among other industrialized nations when it comes to the affordability of health care: 59 percent of U.S. primary care physicians reported that their patients often cannot afford care, compared with between 4 percent and 25 percent of physicians in Norway, the U.K., Switzerland, Germany, and Australia. Moreover, over half of U.S. doctors said insurers' restrictions on their care decisions create major time concerns—by far the highest rate in the 10-country survey.
Visit commonwealthfund.org to read more about the survey and to view our infographics, which show how countries compare on communication, care coordination, and use of electronic medical records.