Electronic access to patient records may not reduce testing costs

Many assume that physician access to computerized test results will lead to less testing and, therefore, lower costs. But a new study published in the journal Health Affairs has found the opposite. In a study that  analyzed records of 28,741 patient visits to a representative sample of 1,187 physicians in 2008, researchers found that physicians’ access to computerized imaging results was associated with a 40-70 percent greater likelihood of an imaging test being ordered. Several studies have estimated that computerization in physician offices would save as much as $8.3 billion a year on imaging and lab testing. But, as the authors wrote, this may not be the case and we must “emphasize the importance of establishing the benefits of computerization rather than estimating them in the absence of data, or generalizing from small studies at a few atypical institutions.”