The total first-year cost of electronic health record implementation for a five-physician practice is an estimated $233,297, with an average per-physician cost of $46,659, according to a study published in Health Affairs, CMIO reports.
Study Methodology
For the study, funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, researchers looked at the costs of implementing an EHR system in 26 primary care practices within the HealthTexas Provider Network (CMIO, 3/8). The network is affiliated with Baylor Health Care System (Goedert, Health Data Management, 3/8). The researchers estimated EHR implementation costs associated with:
- Hardware;
- Software;
- Time; and
- Effort.
The study analyzed data collected between January 2004 and December 2009.
Key Findings
Implementation costs for an average five-physician practice in the first 60 days after launching an EHR system were estimated at $162,047, with an average $85,500 in maintenance expenses throughout the first year.
According to the study, maintenance costs include software licensing, hosting, technical support and networking (CMIO, 3/8).
The study authors noted that total implementation activities -- which involved teams to set up EHR systems and the preparation of physicians and other staff -- took an estimated 745 hours per physician (Health Data Management, 3/8).