Practice Process Improvements ($216,300). A federal study found an EHR for a single physician yielded savings $26,600 in year one, $41,300 in year two, $31,400 in year three, $85,100 in year four and $85,100 in year five.
More Revenue Through Better Coding ($210,000). A study of 14 small practices found each physician could raise his/her revenue by as much $42,000 per year with increased coding levels resulting from implementation of EHR.
Malpractice Liability Insurance Discount ($25,000). Many malpractice insurance carriers are offering physicians discounts of 2-5 percent for using an EHR in their practice, on the premise the EHR system will reduce risk by helping to eliminate some of the most common reasons for claims, such as oversights on patient record reviews or notifying patients of prescription refills.
PQRI Financial Incentives ($50,000). The Physician Quality Reporting Initiative provides financial incentives of up to an additional 2 percent of Medicare payments to physicians who successfully report on specific quality measures provided to patients. Incentive payments range from $1,000 to over $98,000.
E-Prescribe Stimulus ($6,000). This amount covers two years of incentives, assuming most practices will switch to the full Medicare EHR stimulus incentive available in 2011.
Medicare/Medicaid Stimulus ($44,000/$63,750). Starting in 2011, physicians who meet the “meaningful use” criteria for certified EHRs for all applicable years would receive $44,000 through Medicare or $63,750 through Medicaid.
Tax Incentive ($250,000). The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act amended Section 179 of the Tax Code to increase the small business expense for qualified property to $250,000 with a 50 percent bonus depreciation.
Clinical Trial Revenue ($500,000). For clinical trials, additional new revenue is available to practices using EHR that was not available with paper records.
In-House Pharmacy Revenue ($360,000). This involves linking EHR to an on-site dispensing system in place of phoning or faxing prescriptions to the pharmacist, making call-backs for non-formulary drugs, and answering inquiries because of illegible handwriting and mandated prior authorization for refills.
See the full estimate by R&D MedTech.
