MGMA: EHRs translate into more $ for practices
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The report found that practices that weren’t hospital- or integrated delivery systems-owned and that had an EHR reported $49,916 greater total medical revenue after operating cost per full-time-equivalent (FTE) physician than practices with paper medical records.
These practices also reported greater expenses ($105,591 per FTE physician), but had $178,907 greater median revenue per FTE physician than practices with paper medical records, according to the survey.
This same pattern can be observed in hospital/IDS-owned practices, according to the Englewood, Colo.-based organization. Multispecialty practices that were hospital- or IDS-owned and had an EHR reported an operating margin that was $42,042 more than the margin in those with paper medical records.
Non-hospital-/IDS-owned practices with EHRs also report an increase in financial benefits as they gain more experience with their systems. After five years of EHR use, these practices reported an operating margin 10.1 percent greater than practices in their first year of having an EHR.
The survey reveals that the highest IT costs occur in the first year after installation in non-hospital-/IDS-owned practices. Medical records and transcription staff costs decrease after this time. IT staffing per FTE physician increased slightly after five years (0.13 to 0.15), and FTE medical records staff per physician decreased by 44.12 percent (0.34 to 0.19 percent).
MGMA surveys depend on voluntary participation and may not be representative of the industry, according to the association.