The Effect of Clinicians' Personal Acquaintance on Specialty Care Coordination as the Sharing of an EHR Increases.

We used an online survey to measure how personal acquaintance with referring primary care providers (PCPs) affects specialists' experience of care coordination as use of a shared electronic health record (EHR) increases. Only 9% of specialists rated Overall Coordination as 9 or 10 out of 10. Personal acquaintance positively impacted Overall Coordination and all measured coordination subdomains. This effect was attenuated, but persisted, even at higher levels of EHR sharing. The impact of a shared EHR alone was limited to Overall Coordination and the Data Transfer subdomains. Health systems can improve coordination through investment in clinician relationships, while research should address the gaps in coordination even with widespread personal acquaintance and shared EHRs.