Healthcare IT News - December 2007 - (Page 17)

www.HealthcareITNews.com phySIcIaN pRactIcES & aMBulatoRy caRE December 2007 ■ Healthcare IT News 17 UHS Continued from page 15 CaPg Continued from page 15 Epic Systems Corp. of Verona, Wis., in 2005. James said, while the system was initially intended for the seven hospitals in the UHS system, the broader impact a community-wide EHR could have on regional health would be profound. “Our model is to provide an EMR, practice management and scheduling capability,” James said. “We’ve built integration with about five reference labs, and we’ll also offer a physician portal for those who don’t want to go all the way.” Cathy Morris, a consultant with Raleigh, N.C.-based HIMformatics, helped UHS develop the financial model for its community-wide EHR. She determined that subsidizing the purchase for physicians was critical, as the EHR would otherwise not be competitive in the eastern North Carolina market. “UHS will have to make a substantial investment upfront, and hope to recoup costs down the road,” Morris said. James revealed that UHS plans to offer a 43 percent subsidy to the first 50 providers who sign on with HealthSpan’s “affiliate plan.” Over the next five years, the health system hopes to recruit an additional 250 providers, who will receive a 25 percent EHR subsidy. James estimates the total implementation cost per practice to average $15,000. “You can’t go into something like this with a Stuart James ‘break-even’ mentality,” James said. “You can subsidize physicians at 85 percent, but if you do that and get a lot of takers, it can turn your cost model upside down.” Gail Hinte, a HIMformatics consultant, predicts the Stark relaxation will increase the number of physicians who adopt or upgrade EHRs by 57 percent in the next 12 months. But she said most providers would probably take a “waitand-see” approach. “A lot of physicians will be skeptical of a hospital’s intentions in offering them subsidized software,” Hinte said. “But most practices will participate, because they want the technology at discounted rates.” Even if subsidized, EHR technology will not be free for physicians. “Everybody has to be vested for this to work,” said James. “Everyone has to have some skin in the game.” More at value-conscious,” said Wells Shoemaker, MD, CAPG medical director. “We also have a political audience in Sacramento and Washington, and we feel very strongly that, after healthcare reform comes to pass, we should see an improvement and enhancement of coordinated care models, not a dismantling of them.” CAPG views the SOE initiative not simply as an assessment, but as an opportunity to “nudge” underperforming practices into adopting healthcare IT tools to boost quality care. “We see very clearly that our high-performing medical groups have very sophisticated healthcare IT,” Shoemaker said. “We also have Wells some groups that Shoemaker, MD are struggling, and the variability between groups is awkward for us. We want this information to serve as a stimulus to groups to improve.” Shoemaker said that CAPG also plans to offer a clinical data repository to its members. Medical groups will be able to purchase a pay-for-performance reporting module, a data utilization module, and access to statewide benchmarks. “IT is critical, but EHRs aren’t the only path to success,” said Shoemaker. “EHRs can be a fabulous tool, but they’re very expensive, and not a good first step for a practice that wants to use HIT to improve quality. Many organizations have spent a lot of money on EHRs and then had to write it off when their implementations failed.” Ultimately, however, practices that resist IT will be left behind, Shoemaker added. “You shouldn’t be in the business of healthcare if you’re not in the business of quality improvement at the same time,” he said. ■ More at HealthcareITNews.com e ●Connect: CaPG 1207 HealthcareITNews.com e ●Connect: uHS 1207 e ● Connect: allSCrIPtS 1207 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8195 http://www.allscripts.com/red http://www.allscripts.com/red http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=8193 http://www.healthcareitnews.com/eConnect.cms?id=8247

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Healthcare IT News - December 2007 Contents Paying Docs Seal of Approval Key to Success Stage 4 Stark Payoff New Kids on the Block Real-time Trend On the Block Picture Perfect Head of the Class

Healthcare IT News - December 2007

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