The Influence of EHR Implementation on Hospital Readmissions Rates and Mortality Scores: Preliminary Findings

Abstract

This study investigates the direct and indirect influence of electronic health records (EHR) implementation on hospital readmissions ratios and hospital mortality scores among Medicare beneficiaries, for three health conditions – heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia. Readmissions ratios and mortality scores for each health condition were compared between EHR hospitals and non-EHR hospitals. All comparisons yielded statistically insignificant differences, ruling out the presence of a direct influence. Next, correlation tests between readmissions rates and mortality scores were conducted for each health condition, separately for EHR hospitals and non-EHR hospitals. All tests yielded statistically significant and negative correlation values. These inverse correlations implied that for each health condition, hospitals with higher readmissions rates have lower mortality scores, and those with lower readmissions rates have higher mortality scores. The strength of correlation at both EHR and non-EHR hospitals was highest for heart failure and lowest for pneumonia, with heart attack in between. The strength of correlation was also found to be higher at EHR hospitals than non-EHR hospitals for each health condition, thus confirming the presence of an indirect influence of EHR implementation on readmissions ratios and mortality scores. The study concludes that EHR implementation in its early stages strengthens the inverse effect of readmissions rates upon mortality scores.