The effect of hospital electronic health record adoption on nurse-assessed quality of care and patient safety

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of having a basic electronic health record (EHR) on nurse-assessed quality of care, including patient safety. Few large-scale studies have examined how adoption of EHRs may be associated with quality of care. A cross-sectional, secondary analysis of nurse and hospital survey data was conducted. The final sample included 16,352 nurses working in 316 hospitals in 4 states. Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the relationship between basic EHR adoption and nurse-assessed quality of care outcomes. Nurses working in hospitals with basic EHRs consistently reported that poor patient safety and other quality outcomes occurred less frequently than reported by nurses working in hospitals without an EHR. Our findings suggest that the implementation of a basic EHR may result in improved and more efficient nursing care, better care coordination, and patient safety.