Dataset Information

The impact of electronic health records on workflow and financial measures in primary care practices.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To estimate a commercially available ambulatory electronic health record's (EHR's) impact on workflow and financial measures.

Data sources/study setting

Administrative, payroll, and billing data were collected for 26 primary care practices in a fee-for-service network that rolled out an EHR on a staggered schedule from June 2006 through December 2008.

Study design

An interrupted time series design was used. Staffing, visit intensity, productivity, volume, practice expense, payments received, and net income data were collected monthly for 2004-2009. Changes were evaluated 1-6, 7-12, and >12 months postimplementation.

Data collection/extraction methods

Data were accessed through a SQLserver database, transformed into SAS®, and aggregated by practice. Practice-level data were divided by full-time physician equivalents for comparisons across practices by month.

Principal findings

Staffing and practice expenses increased following EHR implementation (3 and 6 percent after 12 months). Productivity, volume, and net income decreased initially but recovered to/close to preimplementation levels after 12 months. Visit intensity did not change significantly, and a secular trend offset the decrease in payments received.

Conclusions

Expenses increased and productivity decreased following EHR implementation, but not as much or as persistently as might be expected. Longer term effects still need to be examined.

SUBMITTER: Fleming NS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3925410 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The impact of electronic health records on workflow and financial measures in primary care practices.

Fleming Neil S NS Becker Edmund R ER Culler Steven D SD Cheng Dunlei D McCorkle Russell R da Graca Briget B Ballard David J DJ

Health services research 20131221 1 Pt 2

<h4>Objective</h4>To estimate a commercially available ambulatory electronic health record's (EHR's) impact on workflow and financial measures.<h4>Data sources/study setting</h4>Administrative, payroll, and billing data were collected for 26 primary care practices in a fee-for-service network that rolled out an EHR on a staggered schedule from June 2006 through December 2008.<h4>Study design</h4>An interrupted time series design was used. Staffing, visit intensity, productivity, volume, practice ...[more]

PMID: 24359533

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Project description:Long-term care (LTC) facilities are an important part of the health care industry, providing care to the fastest-growing group of the population. However, the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) in LTC facilities lags behind other areas of the health care industry. One of the reasons for the lack of widespread adoption in the United States is that LTC facilities are not eligible for incentives under the Meaningful Use program. Implementation of an EHR system in an LTC facility can potentially enhance the quality of care, provided it is appropriately implemented, used, and maintained. Unfortunately, the lag in adoption of the EHR in LTC creates a paucity of literature on the benefits of EHR implementation in LTC facilities.The objective of this systematic review was to identify the potential benefits of implementing an EHR system in LTC facilities. The study also aims to identify the common conditions and EHR features that received favorable remarks from providers and the discrepancies that needed improvement to build up momentum across LTC settings in adopting this technology.The authors conducted a systematic search of PubMed, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), and MEDLINE databases. Papers were analyzed by multiple referees to filter out studies not germane to our research objective. A final sample of 28 papers was selected to be included in the systematic review.Results of this systematic review conclude that EHRs show significant improvement in the management of documentation in LTC facilities and enhanced quality outcomes. Approximately 43% (12/28) of the papers reported a mixed impact of EHRs on the management of documentation, and 33% (9/28) of papers reported positive quality outcomes using EHRs. Surprisingly, very few papers demonstrated an impact on patient satisfaction, physician satisfaction, the length of stay, and productivity using EHRs.Overall, implementation of EHRs has been found to be effective in the few LTC facilities that have implemented them. Implementation of EHRs in LTC facilities caused improved management of clinical documentation that enabled better decision making.

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Dataset Information

The impact of electronic health records on workflow and financial measures in primary care practices.

Objective

Data sources/study setting

Study design

Data collection/extraction methods

Principal findings

Conclusions

Publications

The impact of electronic health records on workflow and financial measures in primary care practices.

Similar Datasets

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