We come with a large price tag.
Doctors are being encouraged by the federal government to ditch their messy handwritten paper records, replacing them with sleeker, quicker electronic health records that should improve patient care and reduce health spending. More physicians are coming on board: in 2013, 78% of doctors’ offices said they were using some form of electronic health records, up from 18% in 2001, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But so far, the transition to electronic health records hasn’t delivered the ease of use and savings advocates promised — and the choppy transition is having a ripple effect on consumers. Critics say the systems burden doctors with more administrative work and leave them with less time to see and treat patients. People seeing several doctors often still have to request paper copies of lab results or repeat the tests altogether. And record-keeping mistakes, which can threaten patients’ health, remain a nagging problem.
Since 2009, the federal government has been paying medical providers who make the switch. Total incentive payments topped $20 billion this February, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and starting next year, doctors who don’t meet certain requirements will need to pay a penalty.
Turns out, most doctors and hospitals could use the financial help. Implementing electronic medical records can cost $5 million to $10 million in the first year for a hospital with about 200 beds depending on the size and complexity of the electronic system, estimates Roeen Roashan, a health-care analyst with IHS Technology, a market research firm. A hospital twice that size could see a price tag ranging from $20 million to $30 million, he says. “It’s an expensive investment,” he adds.
But some smaller hospitals and doctor’s offices find they can’t afford to make the investment. About 6% of roughly 5,400 U.S. hospitals are still using paper records, according to the latest figures from HIMSS Analytics, a not-for-profit group that supports the health information industry.
Date: April 7, 2014