By Healthcare Facilities Today

The growing use of health information technology (IT) and electronic-health (e-health) applications will impact the future demand for physicians according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and The Commonwealth Fund. An article on the Medical Express website says that based on the study's analysis,aced on their analysis of recent trends, the authors conclude that patients' future use of physician services will change dramatically as electronic health records and consumer e-health "apps" proliferate. 

 "The results of our study are important because they provide a forward looking snapshot of how health IT will profoundly impact the American health care workforce over the next decade or two," said the study's lead author Jonathan Weiner, DrPH, professor of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School and director of the Center for Population Health Information Technology in the November issue of the journal Health Affairs.

The impact of health IT on the care delivery environment will be far-reaching, according to the article. The study estimates that when electronic health records and other e-health systems are fully implemented in just 30 percent of community-based physicians' offices, U.S. doctors will be able to meet the demands of about 4-9 percent more patients than they can today. 

In addition, when supported by health IT, delegation of care to nurse practitioners and physician assistants could reduce the future U.S. demand for physicians by an additional 4-7 percent. 

Read the article.

Read the study (Fee or subscription required).