| Small doctor's offices across America are | | | | Most medical practices are run by doctors, |
| accustomed to doing business in a certain way. | | | | nurses, and a small administrative staff that is |
| When a patient checks in, the administrative staff | | | | focused on client care and billing. They don't have |
| pulls out a file folder containing a medical history, a | | | | a technical support staff to select or maintain and |
| record of doctor's visits, test results, and | | | | EMR system. There are more than 300 EMR |
| physician's scrawl jotted down about the patient's | | | | vendors in the marketplace right now, and it's |
| history. When the doctor begins his or her | | | | difficult for a small medical practice to determine |
| consultation, it's easy for them to thumb through | | | | which companies are the industry leaders, and |
| the pages and get up to speed on your medical | | | | which vendors might go out of business in the |
| history. | | | | first five years of implementation. Rather than |
| But small offices are under increasing pressure to | | | | make a “wrong” decision, small practices |
| scan these files and convert them to electronic | | | | often prefer to stay with the status quo. |
| medical records (EMRs) and make paper files a | | | | High Implementation Costs |
| thing of the past. In fact, President Obama has | | | | In an era where small practices are fighting for |
| set a goal for every American to have an EMR | | | | survival, the cost associated with converting to an |
| by 2014. | | | | Electronic Medical Record system is significant. |
| However, despite nearly $17 billion in economic | | | | According to a 2009 study produced by Avalere |
| stimulus money that is dedicated to medical | | | | Health, a government sponsored research |
| records scanning, many small practices are | | | | company, it will cost the average small practice |
| reluctant to make the change. | | | | $125,000 to $150,000. And this is only the direct |
| EMRs Won't Provide Significant Changes to Care | | | | costs of hiring a scanning service and purchasing |
| Family practitioners typically enjoy close | | | | the EMR system. They did not include the offices |
| relationships with their patients, built over years of | | | | time to prepare the documents for scanning or |
| routine health issues. “ I don't want to sit in | | | | review them once converted. The government |
| front of a patient looking into a laptop,” says | | | | has offered many incentives to offset the cost, |
| one Denver doctor. “I'd rather look into the | | | | but Avalere researches say that at best, these |
| patients' eyes” While he acknowledges some | | | | incentives would add up to only $44,000 an office. |
| benefits to all of the patient data being available | | | | Privacy Concerns |
| on screen, there isn't a great deal of information | | | | Many doctors are concerned about maintaining the |
| sharing going on. Each hospital system uses a | | | | privacy of their patients' data. With an EMR, files |
| different EMR system, and there isn't a | | | | are often stored in off-site databanks, commonly |
| standardized format that solves the | | | | called the cloud. Because of the portability of |
| communication problems between hospitals, | | | | electronic records, a single breach at a large EMR |
| physicians and labs. ”We tend to print out the | | | | holder could expose a large number of people's |
| data and store it in a paper file. For me, t here is | | | | records. It is not just a loss of privacy but they |
| something intuitive about paper chart and | | | | are now exposed to identity theft, social stigma, |
| prescription pad” the doctor adds. | | | | and even increases in your insurance premiums. |
| Difficult to Select an EMR provider | | | | |