Electronic health records may play an important role in solving many of the most serious problems facing the nation's healthcare system, as the technology directly addresses some identified issues.

The National Priorities Partnership recently sent a report to the Department of Health and Human Services outlining the most pressing areas in which the delivery system needs to be improved. The report says more data collection, stronger community-level infrastructure and payment system reform that emphasizes quality over quantity are all necessary for improving healthcare outcomes.

EHR systems could play an important role in achieving these goals. The government's meaningful use incentive program already has strong requirements regarding data collection and reporting on quality issues.

Furthermore, EHRs are considered a vital component of emerging care models like patient-centered medical homes, which seek to improve outcomes by rewarding doctors for keeping patients healthy, rather than for the number of procedures they provide.

The U.S. pays far more than any other nation for healthcare, yet quality measures such as life expectancy and disease burden are worse than many other developed countries. Significant changes may be needed to address this problem, and EHR systems could play an important role.