IRVINE, CA – SK&A, a Cegedim Company, has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), to provide ongoing survey information about the adoption, usage and planned usage of electronic health records (EHR) by physicians in U.S. medical offices.

The SK&A OneKey database of 251,000 medical offices and over 700,000 physicians will be delivered to ONC quarterly beginning the first quarter of 2011 and continuing through 2014. 

The OneKey database includes EHR adoption data on every medical office in the U.S., which SK&A has been surveying since August 2008. 

ONC is expected to use the survey information in OneKey as a foundation to track adoption levels, identify trends, and monitor the effectiveness of federal programs and grants provided under the HITECH Act of 2009, said officials.
 
"We are delighted the government has chosen SK&A as its partner in this important four-year survey that will help advance the use of information technology in medical offices throughout the U.S.," said Dave Escalante, vice president, general manager of SK&A and OneKey. 

"For the past three years, SK&A has been measuring EHR adoption progress and making the data available through OneKey to our clients and other stakeholders. This contract win is a validation of the accuracy and completeness of our healthcare provider database and the dedication of our research associates who survey medical offices every business day."
 
SK&A's Research Center in Irvine, Calif., conducts telephone interviews with office managers and physicians in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Every month, the researchers survey and verify information at more than 40,000 sites. Medical offices are asked about their intent to purchase an EHR and about their timeframe, decision factors (such as price and functionality), and awareness of government incentives for adopting EHR technology.

Officials said data delivered to the government from these ongoing surveys will segment providers by specialty and provide analysis of EHR usage by state, metropolitan area, county and ZIP code.
 
In association with its subcontractor, Adaptive Management Strategies, Inc. (AMS), SK&A will provide further information to the government relative to practice size and revenue, patient volume, active charts-per-physician, size of administrative staff, Medicare billings, and other site characteristics.

Based in Laguna Beach, Calif., AMS engages physicians to provide consulting services and opinions through its Physician Research Panel programs. AMS will be collecting information about physicians' attitudes about and experiences with EHR selection and installation, likes and dislikes, staff roles, desired effects and more.
 
"The data acquired from this collaboration between SK&A and AMS will be central to the plan for the government's promotion of the use of information technology to improve quality of care and establish a foundation for healthcare reform," said Jon Jenett, CEO of AMS.