Electronic health records can help improve quality at community health centers, but the benefits do not cover the technology's cost, according to a study in the January/February issue of Health Affairs, Healthcare IT News reports.
Robert Miller, a professor of health economics at the University of California-San Francisco, and Chris West, a graduate student at UCSF, conducted retrospective case studies of six community health centers with EHRs in six different states to assess the cost-benefit balance of adopting EHRs.
The study found that revenue enhancement benefits of the EHRs were minor, Healthcare IT News reports. Five of the six community health centers incurred ongoing, substantial net financial loses as a result of implementing EHRs. The researchers also found that EHR use led to quality improvements.
Miller said the quality improvement gains outweighed the short-term financial losses, Healthcare IT News reports. He added that the study's findings justify increased health IT investment at community health centers, but he said the facilities need to be creative to successfully transition to an EHR system (Pizzi, Healthcare IT News, 1/18).