Converting From Paper Records To Emr? Here's What You Need To Know

By Author: Angela Martin
Total Articles: 206
Comment this article

There has been a lot of hype out there about converting from paper records to EMR. But many people are unaware about how that process actually works.


At the Billing & Collections Conference in Orlando held recently, Kris Cuddy's nuts-and-bolts EMR implementation session was appreciated by all. Comments from physicians and office managers at her session about how it's really been like for them to implement EMR at their practices were especially appreciated. They have a perspective you sometimes do not see in the predictions about how great EMR is going to be when we adopt it.


One workshop participant said that it's going to take him three hours to transfer his first medical record from paper to EMR. Subsequent conversions are going more quickly, but according to the office manager, he and the practice are investing much more time in the process than the EMR Vendor ...
... /b> said they would.


According to one EMR vendor, one primary care physician could see five patients each day for three weeks while he implemented the system in his practice. Reducing his daily patient load drastically is really going to cut into his income.


Another office manager said that his 2-3 physician practice had spent $250,000 so far implementing an EMR system, which is yet to be used.


It's no wonder therefore that with such statistics, only 12 percent of physician practices nationwide have implemented EMR.


If you're thinking whether you should go for EMR system now, and have a lot of questions regarding this and other healthcare IT business, stay tuned to HIT News.