New Report Illustrates How Health IT Benefits Ambulatory Care

A new report released by the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality illustrates how appropriate use of health information technology including electronic health records, personal health records and health information exchange systems can support and improve the delivery of ambulatory care. The report shows how health IT can enhance decision-support, communication and patient engagement in settings traditionally looked upon as extremely complex.

AHRQ’s report, Findings and Lessons from the AHRQ Ambulatory Safety and Quality Program, documents the research of more than 50 projects that explored the use of  health IT applications. The report is organized around the following 10 key aspects of ambulatory care that exemplify areas where implementation of  health IT can improve quality, facilitate quality measurement, support delivery of care to people with complex needs and enhance patient-centered care:

1. Developing and Testing Quality Measures
2. Capturing and Integrating Data to Support Quality Measurement and Improvement
3. Providing Clinicians with Patient-Specific Information, Clinical Knowledge and Decision Support
4. Providing Clinician and Patient Access to Medical Information
5. Improving Shared Decision-Making and Patient/Clinician Communication
6. Managing Medications
7. Supporting Patient Self-Management
8. Integrating Patient Information Across Transitions in Care
9. Coordinating Care
10. Improving Outcomes for Vulnerable Populations

 To download AHRQ’s report, Findings and Lessons from the AHRQ Ambulatory Safety and Quality Program, click here.