Ulmer said it's important to note that this is not an outcome study — it's a theoretical estimate of the impact of EHR on emergent head CT interpretations instead of a study that shows the actual impact of not having EHR access. In that case, EHR information from a group of patients would have needed to be withheld.

"That would be unethical because we know how powerful it is," said Ulmer.


Ulmer hopes that the findings of the study will have an effect on how providers feel toward EHR implementation. "What we hope will happen is that health care providers will recognize, on a more wide-scale basis, the value of implementing the EHR and the potential harm that may come from absence of EHR access," he said.

He also hopes that teleradiology and access to the EHR will be more integrated. "Providers have to recognize that the quality of teleradiology may differ from in-house radiology if access to the EHR is not provided to the teleradiology companies or teleradiology services," he said.

Ulmer would like to see a more wide-scale study conducted in the future. "Larger studies across multiple institutions and multiple scenarios would give us a better appreciation for how well this reflects the impact of the EHR on interpretations of imaging studies elsewhere or in other scenarios," said Ulmer.

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