The adoption of electronic health record systems is not being driven by a return on investment in hospitals and physician practices, Pat Wise, vice president of Healthcare Information Systems at the Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society, said, Healthcare IT News reports.
Wise said that although ROI could be measured as a result of adopting EHRs, many health facilities that do not use EHRs do not seem to recognize their importance.
"There is a real business case to be made for [EHRs], but the word has not gotten out," Wise said, adding, "More organizations need to know that [EHRs] are a better business practice."
She cited examples, such as Evanston Northwestern Healthcare in Chicago, which had a $2.5 million increase in revenue because of improved charge capture from its EHR system. In addition, North Fulton Family Medicine in Georgia has saved $775,000 in transcription costs after adopting EHRs in 1998, and it also saves $275,000 annually because of the system.
Wise added that most health facilities have adopted EHRs to improve patient care and workflow management, and surveys indicate that "a large percentage of physician practices that don't have [EHRs] have no intention of implementing them in the near future," she said (Pizzi, Healthcare IT News, 6/27).