Only 2.1 percent of hospitals met all nine of the core objectives required to meet stage 1 meaningful use - electronically capturing structured health data. While 7.5 percent of large hospitals were able to meet these requirements, only 1.2 percent of small hospitals did.

A little more than half of hospitals were reported to have a good chance of meeting five of the nine core meaningful use criteria, and 21 percent need to add just one or two functions to meet the core criteria. Hospitals tended to lack health information exchange functions, the implementation of checks to protect patients from drug interactions or allergic reactions, the ability to report quality measures and computerized physician order entry for medications.


Jha is not surprised at the low rate of EHR adoption, given the economy, as the systems can cost upward of tens of millions of dollars.

"The problem is that the bonuses that hospitals get for meeting meaningful use are front-loaded, meaning hospitals have to implement and use EHRs by 2012 in order to get the bulk of the incentives," Jha said. "This is an aggressive timeline, and many hospitals may not make it. If they miss out, it may be years before many of these hospitals will be able to afford to purchase and install their own EHR systems."

Even if incentives were doubled or tripled, Jha told DOTmed News, hospitals would still have a hard time adopting the system.

The AHA will administer another survey, which is backed by the federal government. Results are expected next spring or summer.

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