EHR Cost Analysis: Navigating the Financial Implications of Electronic Health Records

EHR systems solve a lot of issues for healthcare organizations and often justify the initial custom EHR development cost. Usually, you'll see noticeable improvements within the first month of integrating the software. Let's discuss the benefits of EHR systems.

Accurate Information

As information gathering is digitized, it's easy for users to update at any time. Having complete information about a patient's complaints and previous treatments is very helpful in providing correct treatment. It radically simplifies the process, as human beings tend to forget things, even in regard to their personal health. The correct information stored in a safe place makes the process more reliable. Even seasoned doctors see that the treatment becomes more accurate with this approach.

Quick Access

In matters of life and death, having quick access to medical information is extremely important. But even when the issue isn't quite so pressing, it's still very helpful to see all the information in one program instead of reading through copious amounts of papers trying to find the right one. Patients also feel more confident when they know the doctor has a complete view of their health and can quickly see any lab results. When time spent working with documents is shortened, doctors can use it for more thoughtful research and finding better solutions.

Securely Sharing Electronic Information

The EHR system allows you to share information with patients and other clinicians and has a special protocol that corresponds to HIPAA requirements, as the level of data security needs to be very high in healthcare organizations. All personal data is well protected and only the necessary information is provided. This approach is very useful when patients want to see their lab results and instructions. Moreover, it simplifies the process when patients choose to change clinics or doctors. In an emergency situation, this benefit speeds the time of treatment.

More Effective Diagnoses

EHR software helps reduce medical errors and facilitate safer care and better decision-making. Doctors' work quality will improve after implementation, partly because it reduces and automates routine tasks, and partly because the digitized analysis of the information gives specific tips and pinpoints items worthy of attention.

Improving Interaction and Communication

Improving interaction and communication channels has a tremendous influence on healthcare convenience, as everyone gets information quickly and correctly and is satisfied with the level of communication. Patients have another avenue to communicate with providers via a personal portal, which simplifies the process. Patients can book an appointment and see their lab results without contacting the administration by phone or making a personal visit. Also, when patients know the clinic has complete information about their health, they have more trust in that organization.

Safer and More Reliable Prescribing

An EHR system has scripts to alert about drug incompatibility and allergies, which raises the prescription accuracy. Also, this tool gives you the opportunity to automate a part of prescribing for common illnesses or frequent cases. Patients can be sure that the doctor won't forget anything and that they are getting full and accurate prescriptions. Happy, healthy patients are the top priority of any healthcare organization and provide it with word-of-mouth advertising.

Complete Documentation

The EHR system makes it easy to generate reports. It also helps in filling out common forms. In addition, patients can add their information via their personal account in the healthcare portal. All these features simplify document updating and flow, so both sides feel better. The clinic gets complete documentation and statistics for a particular patient, and the patient has less paperwork to complete.

Helping Providers Improve Productivity and Work-life Balance

Employees happily welcome the implementation of an EHR system. The routine process automation and time-saver features make their work more efficient and interesting. Also, this time-saving tool helps improve work-life balance, as the volume of daily tasks can be shortened without losing productivity. This feature is very useful for organizations that run 365 days a year, as their employees get the chance for better rest after hard work.

As we consider the benefits and capabilities of a custom EHR system, one might still ask, 'How much does it cost to build an EHR system?' Such a solution takes into account all the nuances of your current business processes and speeds up their effectiveness. Custom EHR systems are tailored to your requirements, so business owners get exactly what they need.

How much does it cost to build an EHR system? In this section, we'll explore the various factors that contribute to the cost of EHR development. When you're considering setting up an EHR solution, you need to accurately account for all necessary system components of additional functions. Your budget will determine how many features you can afford to add. The good news is that with a custom EHR system you can add more down the road. Usually, the EHR developers work with Agile methodology, so requirements can be updated and new features can be added during the development process. In the long run, customers get exactly what they need.

Hardware Costs

The hardware needed for EHR systems includes workstations and tablets, servers, and networking equipment (routers, switches, and other IT infrastructure). These components are a necessary part of the overall EHR development cost. Usually, every employee who works with EHR software needs his or her own PC, laptop, or tablet. It's hard for several employees to share one unless they work in shifts. Any hospital has a large number of medical personnel working there, and they should be able to cope with the huge flow of patients.

Integration and Data Migration

Transferring existing patient data to the new EHR system can be complicated and time-consuming. The migration should meet high personal information security standards and should also be integrated with all parts of the current system to safeguard the necessary data. Patient data is the most important and sensitive part of any healthcare organization, so the level of security is necessarily very high in this sphere.

Training and Support

Training staff to use the new EHR system is important for successful implementation and is part of the EHR development process. Although the EHR system's design is very user-friendly, employees need to know all the details of how to work with it, including the sensitive data. Well-developed skills in the art of using an EHR system provide you with the maximum benefits.

Ongoing Maintenance and Upgrades

EHR systems require ongoing costs for updates and maintenance. Annual EHR maintenance costs can range from $5,000 to $15,000, including security updates and feature enhancements. It is much better when you work with one development team to upgrade your system as needed because they're already familiar with the project and your requirements. This arrangement eliminates the time a new team would need to research the existing EHR and thereby saves part of the cost.

Size and Complexity of the Organization

In fact, every department needs the EHR to be customized to fit in well with their daily routines. More complex workflows and specialized departments may need additional features, which isn't an issue for development, but customization and additional programs added later on will affect the EHR cost for sure. The good news is that you only pay for secondary programs when you add them.

Regulatory Compliance

Organizations with stringent data protection laws may need advanced security measures like encryption and access controls, which add to costs. This area needs additional research in the beginning, as the laws in various states could be slightly different. What is universal, however, is that personal healthcare information is consistently and accurately protected. EHR developers should be familiar with the standards to make a strong and reliable system.

Third-Party Integrations

Integrating the EHR software with the existing systems-like billing and labs, revenue cycle management, or radiology tools-requires additional development and testing costs. Getting all the benefits an EHR system has to offer is important, as it should work as a single organism with the existing software. Without this step, you might as well not even start the project because it's not useful to work in several programs simultaneously and transfer data manually.

Implementation Timeline

Rushed implementations often incur higher custom EHR development costs due to expedited services, additional hours for training and support, and a greater likelihood of errors requiring fixes. The time this process takes can also depend on whether you choose a freelance team or dedicated developers. The second option usually completes the task more quickly, as they focus on only one project at a time. Freelancers, on the other hand, often spread their attention between projects, and you can't guarantee your project will be their top priority.

All of these factors influence EHR software development cost significantly. Also, they are all important for your healthcare EHR system to work effectively. Obviously, healthcare-like everything else-will be more digitized and automated in the future. EHR systems are developing and new programs and functions are integrated into them on an ongoing basis. While basic expenses are non-negotiable, you can take steps to reduce costs as much as possible. Let's see how to do this.

How much does it cost to build an EHR system? The average custom EHR development cost ranges from $50,000 to $700,000. For smaller practices or startups, expenses are between $30,000 and $150,000. These costs generally cover basic custom functions. Larger healthcare facilities or organizations with involved requirements may pay from $500,000 to $700,000 for an EHR system. This higher investment reflects the need for advanced features.

But this cost is worth it. Researchers Michael J. Howley, Edgar Y. Chou, Nancy Hansen, and Prudence W. Dalrymple examined the financial impact of electronic health record implementation on outpatient practices. They tracked the practice productivity (i.e., the number of patient visits) and reimbursement of 30 ambulatory practices for two years after EHR deployment and compared each practice to their pre-EHR baseline. They found that the reimbursements significantly increased after EHR installation, even though practice productivity (i.e., the number of patient visits) decreased over the two-year observation period. They saw no evidence of upcoding or increased reimbursement rates to explain the increased revenues. Instead, they were associated with an increase in ancillary office procedures (e.g., drawing blood, immunizations, wound care, ultrasounds, etc.).