The Benefits of Using an EMR

Return on Investment (ROI)
Using an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) integrated with a robust practice management application has been shown to demonstrate cost savings as well as enhanced revenue. The scope of improved efficiency varies with degree of implementation, and includes reduced labor costs, improved cash flow, streamlined clinical and financial management workflow, increased reimbursement, and detailed financial reporting. All these factors can contribute to making a healthcare delivery system of any size more profitable.

Medical Economics magazine has estimated a $40,000 to $50,000 annual loss to physicians who routinely down-coded one E&M level. An EMR that helps with E&M coding enables a provider to code correctly, with full supporting documentation. As an example, Northwest Diagnostic Clinic, the medical practice located in the same facility as e-MDs, completed a reimbursement study following the second quarter of 2000. Actual E&M coding distribution with corresponding reimbursement was compared to the E&M distribution report for Blue Shield of Texas and projected reimbursement. The distribution of E&M codes by users of topsChart was shifted toward higher-level codes. Use of an EMR allows rapid, extensive documentation of visits, justifying the higher codes. The Northwest Diagnostic Clinic study indicates increased reimbursement approaching 20% when compared with the expected reimbursement if the clinic followed the standard E&M code distribution. This increase in provider efficiency alone more than pays for the costs of implementing an EMR system. Charge capture efficiency is also improved by a full-featured EMR, and can also increase reimbursement. Commonly overlooked procedure codes and supply codes (HCPCS) are more uniformly charged using an EMR with charge alerts, and can increase revenue by an additional 15-20%. In addition, transcription costs can be completely eliminated, which amounts to a conservative average of $10,000 to $12,000 per provider per year. At the Northwest Diagnostic Clinic site, this represents a minimum annual savings of $50,000 for the 5 FTE (full time equivalent) providers. Enormous economic benefits can be realized by converting a paper-based medical office to a fully integrated, paperless record system. topsSuite, with its capability of providing a paperless medical office, offers dramatic workflow efficiency and cost savings. Paper records are estimated to cost approximately $8.00 per record per year to maintain, while electronic records can be maintained for $2.00 to $3.00 per year. Northwest Diagnostic Clinic utilizes one full time equivalent (FTE) staff member to maintain in excess of 12,000 digital patient records. Over 7,500 of these patient records contain 46,000 scanned documents that would otherwise be filed in paper charts. Combining the tasks of maging/document management with the reduced work of medical records management (filing, chart pulls, etc.) reduces labor costs by 50 to 100%. There is also a reduced expense for real estate space that would otherwise be needed for paper records.

Streamlining patient flow and improving documentation accuracy may realize other efficiencies. Charting can be done in real-time, at the point of encounter, without a need for longer appointments. Using structured data entry (such as templates), especially with the ability to save personalized versions of these templates in a pre-clicked fashion, results in minimal impact on provider workflow (speed). The majority of patient visits are for a group of diagnoses with similar patient presentations, exams, and treatment plans, facilitating the use of pre-saved information. Cleaner claims are produced with automatic ICD-9 coding with appropriately linked CPT codes. In addition, accurate evaluation and management service (E&M) coding reduces staff time needed for claims correction and post-processing. Efficiencies can also be gained through optimizing the use of non-physician providers, such as physician assistants. Since a structured, template based EMR can be used to deliver customizable protocol-driven care, non-physician providers can deliver healthcare with high adherence to quality standards set by organization or by individual provider.

The integration of electronic, multi-station scheduling with the clinical information system can eliminate duplication of data entry, and help maximize efficiency. A full-featured scheduler, such as topsSchedule, provides combined internal workflow efficiencies with state of the art features, such as modified wave scheduling. This allows optimal use of staff and resources, increasing profitability. Many commercially available electronic billing software applications handle invoicing and claims management, but these functions are not sufficient to provide maximum workflow efficiency and productivity. topsBill combines powerful billing and claims management features with robust reporting capabilities. In this way, revenues are maximized while providing an efficient means of tracking productivity and performance.

 

 

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