EMR Benefits and Return on Investment Categories

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The sections below detail the benefits, costs, and barriers in evaluating EMR implementations. Selecting, financing, and launching an EHR system is difficult.

Informational

EMR Benefits: Informational

Security

EMR Benefits: Security is an advantageous attribute which comes with EMR systems. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a privacy, security & meaningful use guidelines which computer systems that store patient information need to conform to imply to HIPAA privacy guidelines. [1]

Environmental

EMR Benefits: Environmental positive impact through Electronic Health Records has the potential to improve the environmental footprint left by the health care industry. [2]

Medical Education

EMR Benefits: Medical education

Financial

EMR Benefits: Financial

"Implementing an EMR system could cost a single physician approximately $163,765. As of May 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) had paid more than $30 billion in financial incentives to more than 468,000 Medicare and Medicaid providers for implementing EMR systems. With a majority of Americans now having at least one if not multiple EMRs generated on their behalf, data breaches and security threats are becoming more common and are estimated by the American Action Forum (AAF) to have cost the health care industry as much as $50.6 billion since 2009." [3]

Some of the ways that EMR systems can cut healthcare costs are due to savings based on "time-consuming paper-driven and labor-intensive tasks":[4]

  • Reduced transcription costs[4]
  • Reduced chart pull, storage, and re-filing costs [4]
  • Improved and more accurate reimbursement coding with improved documentation for highly compensated codes [4]
  • Reduced medical errors through better access to patient data and error prevention alerts [4]
  • Improved patient health/quality of care through better disease management and patient education [4]

Improving patient care

EMR Benefits: Healthcare quality

Improved Care Coordination

  • Electronic health record systems can decrease the fragmentation of care by improving care coordination. EMRs can integrate and organize patient health information and facilitate the immediate dissemination of information to authorized providers involved in a patient's care.[5]
  • By making data readily available during patient encounters electronic messaging,EMRs facilitate within-office care coordination.[6]

Research

EMR Benefits: Research

Health Information Exchange (HIE)

EMR Benefits: HIE

Personal Health Records

EMR Benefits: PHR

Patient Participation

Patients can use personal health record (PHR) to keep track of information from doctor visits, record health-related information, and link to health-related resources. PHR, is an electronic application used by patients to maintain and manage their own health information. Connected PHRs are linked to a specific health care organization's EMR system that can increase patient and family participation in their own care. [7]

Electronic Dental Records

EMR Benefits: EDR

Telehealth

EMR Benefits: Telehealth

E-Prescribing

EMR Benefits: E-Prescribing

E-Prescribing has many benefits, some of them include: [8]

  • reduce illegibility [9]
  • providing warning and alert systems, which reduce medication errors [9]
  • access to patient's medical history [9]
  • reduces or eliminates phone calls and call-backs to pharmacies [9]
  • eliminates faxes to pharmacies [9]
  • streamlines the refill and authorization processess [9]
  • increases patient compliance [9]

Mobile EMRs

EMR Benefits: mHealth

Physicians

EMR Benefits: Physicians

Physicians Benefit

EMRs can greatly improve communication between physicians by allowing each full access to the patient’s medical record and by making it easier for physicians to follow up with patients. The electronic record provides up to the minute information on the patient allowing more efficient collaboration between disciplines. EMRs allow multiple providers to simultaneously access a patient’s record from any authorized computer.[10]

Nurses

EMR Benefits: Nurses

Costs

Return on investment

It is estimated that purchasing and installing an EMR can cost a provider anywhere from $15,000 to $70,000. There are several things to consider when looking for an EMR for your organization or practice. The prices vary based on number of providers using the EMR and whether it is a select on-site EHR deployment or web-based EHR deployment. Other factors to take into consideration of what costs you will incur include these 5 components of implementation: [11]

  • Hardware: Hardware costs may include database servers, desktop computers, tablets/laptops, printers, and scanners. [4]
  • EHR Software: Potential software costs include an EHR application, interface modules and upgrades to your EHR application. Remember, software costs vary depending on whether you select an on-site EHR deployment or a SaaS EHR deployment. [4]
  • Implementation Assistance: Potential implementation assistance costs include IT contractor, attorney, electrician, and/or consultant support; chart conversion; hardware/network installation; and workflow redesign support. [4]
  • Training: Your organization will need to train your physicians, nurses, and office staff before and during EHR implementation. [4]
  • Ongoing Network Fees and Maintenance: Potential ongoing costs include hardware and software license maintenance agreements, ongoing staff education, telecom fees, and IT support fees. [4]
  • Although the initial cost of an EMR may (and typically does) result in an immediate increase in administrative cost, through the reduction of other “removable and or defunct items or process the implementation of the EMR showed a positive improvement in the BCR and NPV. [12]
   examples: remodeling of paper-chart storage areas, medical transcriptions, shorter chain of communication, reduction of administrative material

==Cost vs Time == (A reduction of time spent on a common process can lead to reduced cost and better efficiency)

  • EMRs can greatly reduce or make more efficient use of time.

A recent study (July-2015)EMR decision support systems where proven to have reduced and or made more efficient use of the time needed for “Colorectal cancer screening where the immediate harms are balanced with longer-term benefits.” By providing a “personalized benefit/harm assessment”. [13]

Benefits Database

EMR Benefits: Benefits Database

Compliance

EMR Benefits: Compliance

References

  1. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Privacy and Security Standards. http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/HIPAA-Administrative-Simplification/HIPAAGenInfo/PrivacyandSecurityStandards.html
  2. Turley, M., Porter, C., Garrido, T., Gerwig, K., Young, S., Radler, L., & Shaber, R. (2011). Use of electronic health records can improve the health care industry’s environmental footprint. Health affairs, 30(5), 938-946.
  3. O'Neill, T. (2015, August). Are Electronic Medical Records Worth the Cost of Implementation.
  4. 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 Kumar, S., & Bauer, K. (2011). Medical Practice Efficiencies & Cost Savings.http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/medical-practice-efficiencies-cost-savings
  5. http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/improved-care-coordination
  6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2839331/pdf/11606_2009_Article_1195.pdf
  7. http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/patient-participation
  8. Healthcare IT News http://www.healthcareitnews.com/directory/e-prescribing
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 Healthcare IT News http://www.healthcareitnews.com/directory/e-prescribing
  10. http://www.usfhealthonline.com/resources/healthcare/benefits-of-ehr/#.VfjJDXktDmQ
  11. HealthcareIT.gov http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/faqs/how-much-going-cost-me http://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/faqs/how-much-going-cost-me
  12. Removable or Defunct http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3810528/
  13. Cost vs Time http://www.ajmc.com/journals/issue/2015/2015-vol21-n7/Pilot-of-Decision-Support-to-Individualize-Colorectal-Cancer-Screening-Recommendations/