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An assessment and evaluation of the return on investment (ROI) in implementing an Electronic Health Record (EHR), identification of the benefits in using an EHR in a physician practice, recognition of the problems experienced during the implementation process and an assessment of the financial performance disparity between paper-based medical records and EHR was addressed

in Session 27 of the HIMSS Annual conference, titled “Return on EHR Investment and the Benefits of Implementation: An Update on the Medical Group Management Association’s EHR Adoption Report.”

A physician practice success story is not just based on the procurement and deployment of an EHR that ultimately leads to a better ROI, but “what they did, how they did the installation, their choice of an EHR system, their investment in staff training, and the time it takes to implement an EHR is what enabled them to have that ROI,” explained David N. Gans, MSHA, FACMPE, Vice President Practice Management Resources, Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), Denver, CO.

“One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions.” – a quote from Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, was David Gans’ and Nancy Babbitt’s, FACMPE, Practice Administrator, Roswell Pediatric Center PC, Alpharetta, GA, center of attention in their discussion.

The presentation, based on certain studies conducted by MGMA Center for Research, the University of Minnesota, and the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute, looked at a cross section of financial information provided by medical group practices that have an EHR compared to those that only use paper medical records, and have demonstrated that EHR adoption led to higher revenues and a better ROI. Even though the cost of adoption increased, so did revenue, resulting in this improved ratio of ROI. Among all the 285 medical practices, adopting EHR, reported increased operating costs, reduced productivity, and other challenges during the first 6 to 24 months of implementation. After that, however, the practices noticed benefits exceeding costs and wondered how they ever conducted business without an EHR. In addition, more than 75% who have adopted an EHR were either satisfied or very satisfied and nearly 70% reported satisfaction with EHR vendor satisfaction in the study.

The barriers these medical practices first encountered included things like:

1. a lack of resources to invest in information technology,
2. the time and effort to prepare the organization for EMR,
3. the difficulty in integrating systems,
4. the difficulty establishing a good ROI,
5. a lack of provider support,
6. and security concerns.

Allowing sufficient time, however, for installation and change in processes, practices with an EHR have greater revenue and more profit than practices with paper medical records.

In conclusion, “a robust EHR, carefully selected and painstakingly implemented can be a huge benefit. It’s ROI includes reduction in staff, increased billing, faster A/R, better documentation and patient safety and pay-for-performance initiatives,” as was presented as a testimonial from the slides in the presentation.

Sources:

Nancy Babbitt, FACMPE Practice Administrator, Roswell Pediatric Center PC, Alpharetta, GA
David Gans, FACMPE, Vice President Practice Management Resources, Medical Group Management Association, Denver, CO