 Using an electronic medical
record (eMR) integrated with a robust practice management application
like PragRecord™ (Pragmedic Clinical Informatics Solution) 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 contribute to making a PragRecord™
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.
Spend less time documenting; see more patients without
extending your work day
Using PragRecord Notes to speed history gathering, real-time
savings can be achieved. Streamlining patient flow and improving
documentation accuracy may realize real efficiencies. The average
time saved in documenting a patient visit with PragRecord Notes is 5 minutes.
New innovations including 'Short-cuts' and pre-defined customizable
templates make this possible. 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-prepared information.
| Annual
Practice Statistics |
| 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 /
40 hrs/wk) |
12
weeks |
If the 2 hours saved each day using PragRecord Notes 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 per doctor per year |
(1,560 visits x $50) |
$78,000 |
Alternatively, you can simply go home earlier every day and spend
time with your family.
Improve your E&M coding
PragRecord™ provides extensive documentation 'short-cuts' to speed
the process of data collection. Collecting the complete review of
systems, past medical history, and family and social history is
rapid and thorough. Historically, most physicians tend to undercode,
whether due to fear of an audit or to lack of time to sufficiently
document the care given. A "level 2 E&M" visit is
based more on deficiencies in documentation than on the merits of
the visit. Use of an EMR allows rapid, extensive documentation of
visits, making it possible to properly document your cognitive services
in order to justify the correct E&M level.
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, Pain
Management Institute (Frankfort, Illinois) completed a reimbursement
study following the second quarter of 2004. 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 PragRecord
Notes was shifted toward higher-level codes. They also realized
increased reimbursement approaching 20% when compared with the expected
reimbursement if the clinic followed the standard E&M code distribution.
Pain Management Institute was able to increase average reimbursement
by $9.01 per visit due to the increased documentation efficiency
afforded by our EMR (PragRecord™). In addition, accurate evaluation
and management service (E&M) coding reduces staff time needed
for claims correction and post-processing.
| ROI
from Time Savings |
| Average physician appointments
per day |
|
25 |
| Total days worked in 12 month period |
(5 days/wk x 48 wks) |
240 |
| Patient visits per year |
(25 visits x 240 days) |
6,000 |
| Total ROI per doctor per year |
(6,000 visits x $9) |
$54,000 |
This increase in provider efficiency alone more than pays for the
costs of implementing PragRecord™. The doctors in this study, work
4 days per week and have a relatively comfortable patient volume
of approximately 20 patients per day, so their actual increase in
income was approximately $40,000 each.
Eliminate paper charts and their associated costs
Enormous economic benefits can be realized by converting a paper-based
medical office to a fully integrated, paperless record system. Medical
Economics (December 1997) has estimated that the creation, tracking,
storage and maintenance of paper records cost $8 per record per
year. Electronic records can be maintained for $1.00 to $2.00 per
year. With electronic records, there is also a reduced expense for
real estate space that would otherwise be needed for paper records.
Combining the tasks of imaging/document management with the reduced
work of medical records management (filing, chart pulls, etc.) reduces
labor costs by 50 to 100%. PragRecord™ with its capability of providing
a paperless medical office, offers dramatic workflow efficiency
and cost savings. Pain Management Institute 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
electronic documents that would otherwise be filed in paper charts.
| ROI
from Electronic Medical Records |
| Estimated maintenance of
paper charts |
($8/chart/year) |
$8 |
| Estimated maintenance of an electronic
chart |
($1-2/chart/year) |
$2 |
| Annual savings per chart |
($8 - $2) |
$6 |
| Assumed active charts per physician |
|
3,000 |
| Total ROI
per doctor per year |
(3,000 charts
x $6) |
$18,000 |
Of course, in the first year of conversion, dual medical records
will probably be maintained, so this savings will not be recognized
for the first 12 to 18 months.
Eliminate transcription costs and reduce or eliminate dictation
costs
The average physician spends between $12,000 and $25,000 annually
on transcription services. Even if you do not eliminate dictation,
but just decrease it by 50%, you could save $6,000 to $12,500 per
year. Depending on your set-up, the cost of leased hardware and
an EMR, plus depreciation, might run you $1,000 per doctor per month.
The transcription savings alone pays for the hardware and software!
| ROI
from Transcription and Dictation |
| Savings on eliminated transcription |
(est $12,000 to $25,000) |
$12,000 |
| OR Savings on reduced dictation |
(50% x est $12,000 to $25,000) |
$6,000 |
| Total ROI
per doctor per year |
|
$6,000 |
At the Pain Management Institute Clinic site, this represents a
minimum annual savings of $50,000 for the 5 FTE (full time equivalent)
providers.
Stop chasing paper
When an insurance carrier denies payment for a service, your office
staff has to track down the paper chart, find the relevant chart
notes, copy them, and then attach the notes and resubmit the claim.
With electronic document management, on the other hand, the appropriate
record is effortlessly retrieved electronically and instantly resubmitted.
The time savings are enormous.
| ROI
from Instant Access to Records |
| Time saved handling paper |
(est 20-30 mins/day) |
20 |
| Additional patient visits per day |
|
1 |
| Total days worked in 12 month period |
(5 days/wk x 48 wks) |
240 |
| Additional patient visits per year |
(1 visits x 240 days) |
240 |
| Total ROI per doctor per year |
(240 visits x $50) |
$12,000 |
Drastically reducing wasted time with denied claims saves hundreds
of hours per year for your staff and allows you to capture an additional
$12,000 per doctor in time savings alone. When claims are simply
not resubmitted within the 90-day limit specified by most insurance
carriers because of the hassle (which happens more than you might
think), you are missing out on thousands, or even tens of thousands
of dollars in billings each year.
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