EMR Return on Investment

How quickly can you make back the money you spend on an EMR?

There are several components to calculating the return on investment (ROI) on the software. There is both a revenue side, allowing you to capture charges accurately, code correctly and reducing rejections, as well as the expense side with numerous cost cutting opportunities. In addition to firm numbers there are many intangibles that result in net savings also.

The following exemplifies ways an EMR will give you a return on your investment.

1. Increase number of patients seen per provider by reducing time spent on chart documentation.
2. Reduce time spent by nurses and clerical staff on patient intake information
3. EMR charting features automatically generate and transmit charges to billing applications via interfaces.
4. Eliminate lost and under-coded charges with code assistance.
5. EMR Prescription writing notifies physician if requested medication is included on the approved formulary for each patient’s insurance.
6. Reduce pharmacy call-backs by electronically sending prescriptions.
7. Malpractice insurance carriers frequently offer discounts to organizations using an EMR system.
8. As the number of paper charts are reduced, costs associated with external storage space are reduced.
9. Reduce supply costs for paper charts per chart, per physician.
10. The EMR documentation templates significantly reduce or eliminates transcription.
11. The labor costs related to the medical records department for requests of chart pulls are reduced.
12. Use of the EMR automates the process of generating and receiving referrals.
13. Real-time clinical alerts ensure that treatment for like conditions follow cost- and clinically effective regiments.
14. Avoid duplicating tests / procedures by using EMR’s automated order communications and lists of prior tests for each patient.
15. Eliminate costs associated with inpatient adverse drug-to-drug and drug-to-allergy events.

Increases Profitability with Rapid ROI

The key to medical office profitability is increasing the efficiency of current operational workflow without compromising quality of care. Medinformatix improves profitability by decreasing medical record documentation time, justifying higher coding levels, prompting for complete charge capture, eliminating medical transcription expenses, reducing paper costs, and decreasing malpractice exposure. The efficiencies generated by these paperless processes routinely result in two hours saved each day in visit and record documentation time, higher reimbursement for cognitive medical services and decreased expenses with revenue increases of over $100,000 per doctor per year.

Factors that Determine Return On Investment

Using a single application for your electronic medical record integrated and practice management can generate real 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.

What are the real time and money savings? What you read below may seem unbelievable, but the numbers are actually conservative. Do the math for yourself.

1. Spend less time documenting; see more patients without extending your work day

Using Medinformatix to speed history gathering, streamline patient flow and improved documentation accuracy results in real efficiencies. Charting can be done in real-time, at the point of encounter, without a need for longer appointments, or it can be done later at your convenience. 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).

Annual Practice Statistics

Practice Time Savings with an EMR
Average time saved in documenting a visit 5 minutes
Average physician appointments per day 25
Total minutes saved per day (25 visits x 5 minutes) 125 (2 hours)
Total days worked in 12 month period (5 days/wk x 48 wks) 240
Total hours saved per year (240 days x 2 hours) 480
Total Weeks of work saved per year (480 hrs / 40hrs / wk) 12 Weeks

If the 2 hours saved each day using Medinformatix to document visits is converted into more visits, you could see an additional 6 to 7 patients per day. Before managed care became so intrusive, you could net approximately $200 per hour for your efforts. Even with managed care, you should be able to average $50 per patient visit.

ROI from Time Savings
Additional patient visits per day 6.5
Total days worked in 12 month period (5 days/wk x 48 wks) 240
Additional patient visits per year (6.5 visits x 240 days) 1,560
Total ROI for First Year (1,560 visits x $50) $78,000

Alternatively, you can simply go home earlier every day and spend time with your family.

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