Physician Data Analytics and Challenges in 2014 – Part 3

Last month, I commented on a recent article on the “Top 10 Challenges Facing Physicians in 2014” (by J. Bendix, D.R. Verdon, A. Ritchie, D. Marbury, in Medical Economics, 12/15/13.) and discussed 2014 as the year of cost controls and payer headaches. This month I would like to discuss how 2014 will be the year for better time management and addressing technology costs.

Time Management
As noted in a previous blog, many government mandates are creating the “perfect storm” for 2014. These include: 1) Affordable Care Act (ACA) financial changes, 2) new Meaningful Use (MU) requirements, 3) ICD-10, 4) new HIPAA rules; 5) Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS), and 6) new EHR software upgrades to support these changes.

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All of these activities are pulling time away from what physicians should be doing – patient care! Physicians are complaining about spending more time on administrative burdens surrounding the business of medicine, and less time with their patients.

This is one of the key factors driving physicians out of private practice and into more corporate practice groups – where the practice administrators can handle much of the administrative requirements. Again, having a physician data analytics system can give you direct knowledge of specific activities of your staff related to patient care versus administrative functions, and can provide you with real data to better management the overall time of your practice physicians and staff.

Technology Costs
Based on all the regulatory changes noted above, there will be significantly more information technology (IT) costs in 2014. Physicians are trying to do more to innovate, but with less resources. The average cost of a new EHR system today is $33,000 up-front per physician and $4,000 annual maintenance costs. Renting or using a web-based EHR is $26,000 up-front costs and $8,000 annual maintenance costs.

In spite of all the push and MU incentive money from CMS and ONC to get physicians onto an EHR, a recent HIMSS Analytics Survey (Q2 of 2013) indicated that about 50 percent of physicians still practice using some form of a paper-based medical chart. According to a Medical Economics 2013 Continuing Survey, 34 percent of physicians say they do not plan to even obtain an EHR system.

Summary
Overall, time and money are major drivers for any business, and this is especially true for smaller physician practice groups. By being creative and selective in use of technology, you can improve the overall bottom line of your practice in the long term. The problem is “how do I survive in the short term” and “how do I get my practice into a fully automated and highly efficient mode.” Next month, I will discuss some staffing and training issues, and how to put control back into the hands of physicians. Stay tuned!

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