In a June
2006 interview with Mark Leavitt, Chair, Certification Commission for
Healthcare Technology, Leavitt commented that “a practice that waits
to adopt EHR [electronic health record] must consider an important ‘downside’:
They need at least three months for EHR implementation, one year to collect
data, and at least another year to put quality improvement mechanisms in
place. The bottom line is that it will take them up to three years from the
time they purchase [an EHR system] until they are ready to take full advantage
of pay-for-performance reimbursement, and waiting until the last minute to
go electronic could end up costing them money.”
“Electronic document management tools for office practices are available
now without implementing a full EHR system,” states Evan Steele, CEO,
SRS Software, Inc. “We have the capability today to eliminate patient
charts, and improve productivity and efficiency without the multi-year timeframe
or high cost of a comprehensive EHR system.” The key for SRS Software
has been using readily-available technology to create a simplified approach
to going paperless.
Are Practices Converting to EHR?
Research findings from the 2005 Medical
Group Management Association (MGMA) survey of more than 3,300 medical
group practices shed light on challenges of adopting EHR technologies. Proponents
claim that paperless records shared across health care settings could:
shrink US medical costs by hundreds of billions of dollars annually, reduce
medical errors, and improve the overall quality of patient care. “Despite
these stated benefits,” Steele remarks, “physicians face significant
burdens—especially time for data entry and costs—that impede
uptake of comprehensive EHR systems.”
“Time needed for data entry by physicians during clinical encounters
is a significant factor. Imagine the president of UPS inputting data about
package deliveries—the productivity loss would be enormous,” Steele
remarks, pointing to evidence from the MGMA survey that manual entry of patient
exam information using an EHR reduces physician productivity by up to 15%.
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What About Costs?
“Small- and mid-sized practices could afford EHR if the return on investment
[ROI] were there,” says Steele. “However, without reliable ROI,
the initial investment is often lost, making EHR ‘unaffordable’ for
many practices.”
According to the same MGMA
survey, just 14% of all medical group practices had invested in an EHR,
identifying an average purchase and implementation cost of $32,606 per full-time
physician. Maintenance costs were an additional $1,200 per physician per
month. Smaller practices had the highest per-physician implementation cost
at $37,204, and the average cost for EHR implementation was about 25% more
than initial vendor estimates. Lack of capital resources to invest in EHR
was cited as the top barrier to adoption. Also, practices are not convinced
EHRs will improve their performance or justify return on investment in terms
of cost and quality.
In comparison, SRS Software and other groups dedicated to simplifying practice
administration and progressing towards paperless health care can cost practices
up to 75% less per physician, depending on the size of the practice, according
to Steele.
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Keep It Simple!
“To help counter rising costs, shrinking reimbursement, and heavy patient
volume, physician practices need a practical approach to organizing and retrieving
patient information,” says Steele. Existing technologies offer today’s
busy medical practices common-sense solutions to document management. In fact,
according to Steele, “physician groups that implement a document management
solution not only do well—but also thrive—without an EHR!”
One such solution is SRS
Chart Manager™, available from SRS
Software. Medical practices of all sizes, from primary care to subspecialties,
use SRS Chart Manager to eliminate paper charts, streamline operations, improve
information flow, enhance patient care, and reduce costs. The software, according
to Steele, is “easy to use, easy to learn, and easy to afford.”
Key features of the SRS Chart Manager include:
- A paperless system—The software program scans
paper documents into a database that allows practices 24/7/365 access to patients’ charts
from any remote location through a high-speed Internet connection. The product
is designed to work with any type of computer or electronic tablet.
- Physician workflow improvements—Doctors
can review all patient information electronically rather than pulling paper
charts. The system allows physicians to do electronic prescriptions, flow
sheeting, and order entry; attach lab or imaging reports; and digitally sign
reports.
- Office staff workflow improvements—Nurses
can handle 35 to 40 phone messages each day with quick access to test results
and prescription information. Messages for physicians at different office
sites can be placed, accessed, and acted-upon quickly.
- Barcode technology—Filing
of paper documents is automatically digitized and filed in patient charts.
- Ease of use—The system’s
components are extremely user-friendly.
- Lab interface—Immediate
access to patient test result data is available electronically, routed
from the lab directly into patient charts and physician inboxes for review
and digital approval.
- Digital imaging interface—Digital images (x-rays,
ultrasound, CT scans, etc) are downloaded and placed directly into the patient’s
electronic chart for viewing on the computer.
- Savings on forms, paper, printing, and faxing costs—All
forms are produced electronically from within SRS and are printed when
needed by physicians and staff.
The number of records lost has been zero for
practices using the SRS system. Another impressive statistic is the time
it takes to train your practice’s physicians—approximately 20 minutes per doctor. Such
factors contributed to SRS Software receiving “First Honors” for
Best Document Imaging Solution at the May 2006 TEPR (Towards the Electronic
Patient Record) annual meeting. This award recognizes SRS as an industry leader
in health care document management.
“No one can predict the outcome of the federal eHealth initiative, but
SRS can help practices become more efficient, effective, and organized starting
today,” Steele says. For a complete overview of SRS Chart Manager™ please
visit SRS Software at www.srssoft.com.
To learn more about EHR implementation, services, and the first steps towards
paperless, check out these past articles from For the Business of Medicine:
To read more about the national eHealth initiative, see www.hhs.gov/healthit/ahiccharter.pdf.
—Jo
Ann Kairys, MPH, contributing editor
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