| In 2004, President George Bush, in his state of the Union address, outlined his plan to establish a national electronic health record system. He believed that, "By computerizing health records, we can avoid dangerous medical mistakes, reduce costs and improve care." In the seven years following that address, the United States free market system has yet to produce the information necessary to develop a robust market for the development and implementation of Electronic Medical Records.;The majority of Electronic Medical Record research has focused on improving patient outcomes; not improving financial outcomes for healthcare providers who are the buyers in the market. The Electronic Medical Record market has languished in the United States in part due to the problem of imperfect information. If the US market for Electronic Medical Record is to grow without government intervention, there must be evidence that healthcare providers will experience positive financial returns on their investments in this technology.;This dissertation examines the economic impact of a specific Electronic Medical Record used in five rural Louisiana hospitals beginning in 2003. Using Interrupted Time Series analysis, this researcher found statistically significant evidence that the implementation of an Electronic Medical Record increases the financial reimbursement to the subject hospitals. If the Electronic Medical Record market is to return to a market free of government intervention, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid will need to support the development of evidence that makes a persuasive economic argument for its use. |
