Physicians Practice - September 2008 - (Page 66) TECH SURVEY • “Stop ripping off physicians just because we have an MD/DO behind our names.” • “The price of medical software is ridiculous. I think the medical industry and MDs are targets, and the general consensus is that we are poor at business but have extra money.” • “I simply don’t see the value in office software that costs $15,000 to $20,000. Considering the actual function of the software, these prices are simply ridiculous.” Apparently, technology vendors are joining managed-care companies on physicians’ mental list of people out to get them. It’s an emotional issue. And yet, the majority of those who bought an EMR — which is certainly the technology du jour — report that the investment was in fact worthwhile. Sixty-nine percent found the EMR increased work flow efficiency, while 70 percent expected to see a return on investment — both promising stats. And despite the seething comments above regarding cost, reported EMR price tags are all over the map. About a third of respondents paid between $500 and $3,000 per physician. A third paid between $3,001 and $6,000, and 33 percent paid more than $6,000 per doc for their EMR. And get this: 8 percent paid less than $500. So you can see why it’s a bit hard to pin down what the costs, generally speaking, really are. Anecdotally, many sense that prices are dropping. “Some companies thought doctors would pour money into it; prices have dropped,” says internist Ronald Hirsch of Sig- ON YOUR MIND WHAT TECH ISSUES ARE PHYSICIANS THINKING ABOUT MOST? Costs to implement and use new technology EMR IT/Tech support Training staff Billing Keeping up with new technologies Communicating with patients Communicating with other departments/healthcare facilities Record keeping Non-EMR medical software Other RESPONSE PERCENTAGE 55.1% 51.4% 36.7% 34.4% 33.5% 30.4% 28.3% 26.1% 22.7% 13.1% 5.7% RESPONSE COUNT 731 682 487 457 444 403 376 346 301 174 76 Note: Percentages total more than 100 because respondents could select all applicable answers. 66 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | SEPTEMBER 2008 WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM http://www/md-it.com http://www/md-it.com http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM
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