A Survey of the Implementation and Usage of Electronic Dental Records and Digital Radiographs in Private Dental Practices in Mississippi

• Main Author: Brent, Barbara K
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University 2018
• Subjects: electronic health records; digital radiography; conventional radiography; dental; private practice; dental health records; electronic dental records; Dental Public Health and Education; Dentistry; Other Dentistry
• Online Access: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3365; https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4813&context=etd

Implementation of electronic health records by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health has led to the implementation of electronic dental records (EDRs) and digital radiography in dental offices. The purpose of this study was to determine the state of the implementation and usage of EDRs and digital radiographs by the private general and pediatric dental practices in Mississippi as well as reasons why the dental practices are not moving forward with the advanced technology. A survey was emailed to 712 dental practices: 116 responded (16% response rate), and 104 consented to participate (89.66%). Results indicated dental practices in Mississippi using EDRs was 46.07%, EDRs with paper records was 42.70%, and only paper records was 11.24%. Results indicated dental practices using digital radiography was 76.40%, conventional radiography was 13.48%, and both was 10.11%. Common reasons for not advancing were cost, insufficient training, computer/software issues, and “too old.”