$44,000. How many times have you seen that number bandied about? It’s one of the main drivers of EHR adoption—but really, it’s a distraction.
Don’t get me wrong—the HITECH incentives are nothing to sneeze at. But really, they’re a drop in the bucket when it comes to the future value of medical software.
That’s because the potential upside for effective use of medical software in a practice is much, much greater than that number—which is why the incentives are being offered, of course.
Estimates are that maintaining paper charts costs in excess of $116,000 per year. Then there is the additional revenue to be generated if you can see more patients per day.
And what about potential savings on malpractice premiums? Improved returns on medical billing?
The potential increase in profit can quickly add up to a much larger number than $44,000.
But your EHR must be implemented correctly in order for that to happen.
A blog post I read recently by an IT consulting firm pointed out that a study completed by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that companies who derived “profits” from their EHRs were among those who also undertook changes in staff and business process to best use the technology.
“All the technology in the world won’t solve one problem if you are unwilling to do the hard work of leveraging that enabling technology to change business practice for the better,” the blogger wrote.
I couldn’t agree more. If a practice simply takes an EHR and drops it into their current processes, they are not likely to see maximum return on their EHR investment.
That point where you decide whether to fully embrace technology and modify your processes to enable maximum ROI on your investment is the point where you decide whether your medical software is going to be a profit generator or a money pit.
Because once the honeymoon of the $44,000 is over, you’re left with the reality of working with your EHR day in and day out.
A doctor who has been using an EHR for 16 years wrote about this dichotomy recently on his blog in a post entitled “A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to Meaningful Use”, saying that “…last year, our first year in the “meaningful use” era, our focused changed in a very bad way. We started talking more about our EHR complying to criteria than maximizing quality and efficiency.”
The need to optimize your medical software for full return on investment is why we’re inviting you to join us for a practical one-hour webinar entitled Increase Your Bottom Line: EHR and PM Technology Can Do It, featuring Rosemarie Nelson, MS, a leading healthcare consultant with the MGMA.
After consulting with multiple practices, Rosemarie Nelson provides a unique insight into the needs and challenges facing physicians and medical practices. During the webinar, she’s going to share the key strategies she’s learned for improving practice profitability with technology.
Just some of the useful information you’ll learn during the webinar includes:
- How to integrate new business processes into your operations
- How to identify components of your technology solution that automate operations and reduce costs
- Ways to effectively monitor your progress with seven specific benchmarks
- Tips from better-performing practices
- And more
Will your medical software be a profit generator or a money pit? In the end, you decide.
Kathy McCoy, MBA, has written on practice management and revenue cycle management for more than 5 years for leading medical software, medical marketing, and medical billing companies. She has more than 17 years of experience in continuing medical education, developing programs with respected educational institutions including Columbia University, Johns Hopkins, and Cleveland Clinic.
Do you know what you need when setting up a new medical practice?