Physicians Practice - June 2008 - (Page 61) community doctors, but they’re still very rare, Drazen says. Many hospitals are preoccupied with wiring themselves or rolling out EMRs to their employed physicians, she notes. Case in point: Community Health Network, a five-hospital system in Indianapolis, is now installing a GE Centricity EMR in the offices of its affiliated with Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston. Using hospital funds, the IPA plans to help up to 1,300 of its member physicians — all of whom have agreed to participate in a “clinical integration program” — to buy the eClinicalWorks EMR. Scott Fenn, CEO of the network, says that 70 doctors are already implementing or using the EMR, To date, neither Congress nor any state has approved direct grants to physicians for EMRs. But stay tuned on that one. THE EMR’S IN THE MAIL 175 employed primary-care physicians. But, except for some private practices managed by its management services organization, says Community Health Network’s CEO William Corley, the system won’t donate EMRs to any area doctors until after it installs a new enterprise EMR in its hospitals in 2009. In the interim, he notes, the hospital plans to provide a Centricity “EMR lite” to nonemployed specialists so they can receive lab results and communicate online with the employed doctors. Similarly, St. Luke’s Health System in Kansas City is rolling out EMRs to its own medical group and offering the RelayHealth secure messaging system to community doctors. Debe Gash, St. Luke’s CIO, sees hospital gifts to private practices as the exception. It’s tough for them to find the money, she says, “given the reimbursement climate and low operating margins.” BUT HOW MUCH WILL THEY PAY? Healthcare systems that are donating EMRs often pay the maximum allowable 85 percent of the software cost. But that still leaves a big investment for you. Consider Memorial Hermann Health Network Providers, an IPA WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM and he expects 400 to be up and running within three years. The IPA, which hosts the program itself and provides technical support, starts with a needs assessment of each practice. While doctors select their own hardware and get discounts through the IPA, they’re told what the minimum computer requirements are. Some practices have felt taken aback by the equipment cost, which averages $5,000$7,000 for a soloist, Fenn says. Because the hospital cannot legally pay for ongoing support, the cost is bundled into the monthly fee of $325 per physician, plus $75 for eClinicalWorks’ practice management component, if a practice chooses to include that. So, participating doctors are paying up to $400 a month. Plastic surgeon William Riley Jr. of Sugar Land, Texas, an EMR adopter, feels that that’s a reasonable charge. And it’s not atypical for hospitalprovided EMRs. The Butler Health System in Butler, Pa., is charging private-practice doctors $500 a month for hosting and supporting an Allscripts EMR. It’s paying 85 percent of the cost for the software, which is also being rolled out to its 30 employed physicians. JUNE 2008 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | 61 http://www.AgileEMR.com http://www.AgileEMR.com http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM
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