With the passing of the HITECH Act in 2009, market forces are moving the industry toward paperless medical records at a record pace. Data will be key in the outcomes-driven world of ACOs to come, and clinical EMRs will be strategic reporting assets.
What will it cost to get there?
The CIO Consortium (CIOC) and its nearly 40 member companies include many of the largest multi-facility Senior Living and Post-Acute Care providers in the industry. The CIOC just published a study detailing the costs to evaluate, deploy, and operate an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system. Randy Kirk, EVP & CTO of Direct Supply and facilitator of the CIOC offers: “The CIOC’s work cuts through the confusion often surrounding EMR implementation by creating shared language, approaches, and economic models.”
Because every operator is unique, the CIOC leveled the playing field and evaluated the costs of EMR for a “typical” 25-facility chain providing nursing care and rehabilitation services, for three models:
A Software as a Service (SaaS) model where the back office computers that run it are owned, managed, and backed up by the provider of the EMR software itself. 5-year tab: $6.5M for a “typical” 25-facility chain.
A hosted model where the back office computers that run it are owned, managed, and backed up by an IT solutions provider. 5-year tab: $6.4M for a “typical” 25-facility chain.
An in house model, where the back office computers that run it are owned, managed, and backed up by your company. 5-year tab: $8.9M for a “typical” 25-facility chain.
It’s worth combing through the detail: you’ll get a great checklist of budgetary items for EMR. Add your own process optimization and change management communications, and you have the essential ingredients for success.
