Office-based physicians who receive patient health information (PHI) electronically frequently do so to access imaging reports, and only laboratory results are viewed more often, according to research from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
CDC researchers led by Ninee Yang, PhD, analyzed data from the 2015 National Electronic Health Records Survey and found that imaging reports were the second most common type of information accessed among the 1,525 respondents who indicated they sent or received PHI electronically. What's more, imaging reports were the second most common type of electronic information integrated into their institution's electronic health record (EHR) software.
The researchers shared their findings in an August 15 report (National Health Statistics Reports, No. 115).
| Top types of information received by providers who receive PHI electronically | |
| Information type | Percentage of providers |
| Laboratory results | 78.8% |
| Imaging reports | 60.8% |
| Medication lists | 54.4% |
| Referrals | 54.3% |
| Summary of care records | 51.9% |
| Medication allergy lists | 49.9% |
| Top types of information integrated electronically into EHR software | |
| Information type | Percentage of providers |
| Laboratory results | 73.2% |
| Imaging reports | 49.8% |
| Hospital discharge summaries | 48.7% |
| Summary of care records | 40.8% |
| Emergency department notifications | 40.3% |
| Medication lists | 39.4% |
The researchers also found that imaging reports were sixth (56.6% of respondents) on the list of the most common types of PHI sent electronically. In addition, they were fourth (58.9% of respondents) among the information types searched for electronically.
