Minimizing unnecessary utilization of healthcare services is considered to be a key element of making care more affordable. New research suggests that EHRs may play an important role in delivering care to the right patients at the right time.

For the study, a team of researchers from Northwestern University analyzed EHR data to find out if the records contained enough information for doctors to determine if a woman should receive a pap smear screening for cervical cancer. Women at low risk for the disease are advised to get tested once every three years, but the researchers pointed out that many are screened more frequently.

The results showed that the EHRs of most patients contained enough information for doctors to make an accurate determination of if and when the patient should be screened. However, the findings also showed that 66 percent of women at low risk for cervical cancer were screened more frequently than they should have been.

The researchers concluded that there is an opportunity to use EHRs to prevent unnecessary healthcare utilization across the entire continuum of care, not just in relation to cervical cancer screening. This could have a major impact on controlling healthcare costs.