The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reported on the latest data collected by the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) on Electronic Medical Record (EMR) adoption in the United States.

The report – Electronic Medical Record Use by Office-Based Physicians: United States, 2005; by Catharine W. Burt, Ed.D.; Esther Hing, M.P.H.; and David Woodwell, B.A., Division of Health Care Statistics.

The findings in the report are extraordinary – at least in my opinion. The underlying point that I find so intriguing is – the only linear relationship found between “practice characteristics” and “EMR adoption” is practice size.

The report further identifies what the Ultimate EMR team has been emphasizing.

In 2005, approximately 23.9 percent of physicians (95% confidence interval: 21.1-27.0) reported using full (11.2 percent) or partial (12.7 percent) EMR’s in their office-based practice. This represents a 32% increase since 2001. EMR use did not vary by physician age, gender, or specialty type.

But the liner relationship shows a very different story for solo and partner practices.

Solo practitioners are the least likely to use EMR’s, … Although solo practitioners make up about one-third of physicians, they comprise about two-thirds of medical practices

With that said, only 16% of Solo practitioners have adopted full EMR’s and 4% have adopted partial EMR’s.