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In this article, Dr. Michael Koriwchak, an ENT specialist in Georgia discusses cost savings from their EMR that are quantifiable. He does a very good job of breaking out the savings (some of which are totally applicable to the Canadian setting). He also describes a very good triage workflow for incoming telephone calls which could easily be adopted in practices of 5+ physicians.

It’s time again to face the Doubters, those physicians who would dare question the benefits of EMR to the medical practice. Incredibly, the Doubters are unimpressed by EMR product literature containing pictures of beautiful providers holding shiny tablet PCs taking care of happy, smiling (are they even sick?) patients. They have the audacity to want to know their return on investment. In the first part of this series I tried to explain how EMR uses parallel processing to liberate workflow, improve care and reduce costs. But any good Doubter recognizes that those arguments are only theoretical. The Doubter asks for real world examples and hard numbers. So I gave it a shot. For many of our perceived cost savings the hard numbers are much harder to find than I thought. I am no expert at financial analysis…but few physicians are.

The examples are in 3 categories. Direct savings clearly go straight to the bottom line. Space savings have a well-recognized financial value. FTE savings are by definition estimates; the effect on overhead (payroll) is difficult to measure.

The Wired Practice: The ROI of EMR Explained, Part 2: Show Me the Money

Has your EMR translated into any direct savings in your practice? The flip side of this question is whether the EMR has allowed you to generate additional income that would be difficult to demonstrate without an EMR? Add your thoughts or comments by clicking on the 'Comments' link below.

Read More: http://blog.canadianemr.ca/canadianemr/2010/10/show-me-the-money.html