MGMA: EHRs challenge practices

Most medical practices that have deployed EHRs intend to participate in the meaningful use incentive program, and interest is also high among practices migrating from paper systems, according to a report from the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). However, comparatively few practices can currently meet the eligibility criteria, and practices are divided as to whether EHRs will increase physician productivity, the Englewood, Colo.-based association found.

The MGMA's "Electronic Health Records: Status, Needs and Lessons 2011" report was based on 4,588 online survey responses from a variety of healthcare organizations, including medical group practices representing about 120,000 physicians.
 
Although 80.1 percent of medical practices surveyed that have already adopted an EHR said they intend to participate in the EHR meaningful use incentives available through the HITECH Act, only 13.6 percent of them indicated that they are currently able to meet all 15 core criteria for eligibility to receive incentive payments

Interest in qualifying for EHR incentives was also high among the respondents who are currently using paper medical records, with 28.8 percent indicating that they were in the process of selecting an EHR system. Within this segment, 75.2 percent said they also planned to participate in the HITECH incentive program.

Nearly 72 percent of EHR adopters said they are satisfied with their overall system. EHR adopters were divided, however, as to whether their EHRs would increase physician productivity, with 26.5 percent reporting that productivity had increased, 30.6 percent indicating that it had decreased, and 42.9 percent reporting that there was no change in productivity after implementation, the report stated.

Among the EHR users who said that they had optimized their EHR since implementation, 41.1 percent reported that productivity had increased, 16.5 percent indicated that productivity had decreased and 42.4 percent reported that there was no change in productivity. Among the optimized EHR group, 26.8 percent said total practice operating costs had increased, 39.7 percent said costs had decreased and 33.5 percent reported no change in costs.

More than 38 percent of all EHR users said total practice operating costs increased following EHR implementation, while 25.9 percent said costs decreased and 35.7 percent reported no change in cost.

Of practices still using paper records, more than 78 percent feared there would be a "significant" to "very significant" loss of provider productivity during implementation, and 67.4 percent had similar concerns about the loss of physician productivity after the EHR transition period. The practices currently using paper medical records described the other significant to very significant barriers to EHR adoption as “insufficient capital resources to invest in an EHR” (71.7 percent) and “insufficient expected return on investment” (56.9 percent).

Practice ownership influenced EHR implementation and optimization, according to the report. Independent medical practices were more likely to have a fully implemented and optimized EHR than their peers owned by hospital systems.

The research was funded by PNC Bank.