About one-fourth of assisted living communities use electronic health records, and use is highest among communities located in the Midwest, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The federal agency published 2016 data from the National Study of Long-Term Care Providers on Thursday online as part of the “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report” dated June 29.
The study found that 26% of residential care communities used computerized versions of residents’ health and personal information in the management of their healthcare (other than for accounting or billing purposes).
Use was highest in the Midwest, where 41% of communities said they had the technology. The study used the same definitions for regions as the Census Bureau. The Midwest includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Use was lowest in the West, where 17% of communities used EHRs. States in the West include Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
In the Northeast, 36% used EHRs, and in the South, 24% used them.
States in the Northeast include Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont.
States in the South include Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
The study included residential care communities that were state-regulated, had four or more beds, and provided room and board with at least two meals a day; around-the-clock, on-site supervision; and services related to activities of daily living. Excluded from the study were communities licensed exclusively to serve the mentally ill or the intellectually or developmentally disabled populations.
