Objective: To examine the impact of electronic health record (EHR) deployment on Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) measures in a tertiary-care teaching hospital.
Data sources: SCIP Core Measure dataset from the CMS Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program (March 2010 to February 2012).
Study design: One-group pre- and post-EHR logistic regression and difference-in-differences analyses.
Principal findings: Statistically significant short-term declines in scores were observed for the composite, postoperative removal of urinary catheter and post-cardiac surgery glucose control measures. A statistically insignificant improvement in scores for these measures was noted 3 months after EHR deployment.
Conclusion: The transition to an EHR appears to be associated with a short-term decline in quality. Implementation strategies should be developed to preempt or minimize this initial decline.
Keywords: Quality of care/patient safety (measurement); observational data/quasi-experiments; surgery.
© Health Research and Educational Trust.