EHR implementation boosts reimbursement, but patient visits decline

Ambulatory practice reimbursement increases after the implementation of an EHR system, but this is followed by a long-term decrease in the number of patient visits, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.  

Researchers from Drexel University of Philadelphia tracked the number of patient visits and reimbursement at 30 ambulatory practices over a two-year span following EHR implementation and compared these figures to the practices’ pre-EHR implementation baseline.

Reimbursement rose significantly after the launch of an EHR system even as practice productivity, determined by the number of patient visits, decreased during the study.

“We saw no evidence of upcoding or increased reimbursement rates to explain the increased revenues. Instead, they were associated with an increase in ancillary office procedures,” wrote lead author Michael Howley, PhD, Drexel University in Philadelphia and colleagues.

The results reveal productivity losses with EHRs, but that practices are becoming more efficient at receiving greater reimbursement for seeing fewer patients.

“For the practices still seeing fewer patients after two years, the solution likely involves advancing their EHR functionality to include analytics. Although they may still see fewer patients, with EHR analytics, they can focus on seeing the right patients,” according to the study.