The clinic used time-driven activity-based costing to evaluate the effect of EMR implementation, timing 143 patients throughout their visits. Data were analyzed to determine the effects of EMR implementation in terms of labor cost and provider time.
Here are the key insights to know:
1. Labor costs per patient visit increased two months after EMR implementation, from $36.88 to $46.05. The changes associated with the increase in cost include the amount of time surgeons spent per patient, and the time medical assistants spent assessing patients.
2. After six months, labor costs were comparable to before EMR implementation. Labor costs stayed similar two years after implementation.
3. After EMR implementation, medical assistant spent twice as long with patients, with 3.4 minutes increasing to 9.1 minutes. Providers were spending twice as long with patients after two months, with 3.3 minutes compared with 7.6 minutes.
4. “Healthcare systems and policymakers should be aware that the length of the implementation period is approximately six months and that implementation may alter the time that providers spend with patients,” the researchers concluded.
Click here to read the full study.
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