- Organizations should look at technology as a "business solution" and not simply as a new tool.
- Measuring the ROI for health IT investment projects must include not only cost and quantifiable benefits, but also intangible or value-based benefits that organizations can derive from such projects.
- Some technology investments need to be considered as a cost of doing business. Organizations will not operate an office without electricity or water. Similarly, they should not operate an office without IT systems in this day and age.
- Implementing a health IT system may not reduce cost but will improve outcomes e.g., a surgical information system may or may not reduce operational costs, but it will result in better patient care outcomes.
- Some technology investments are necessary for compliance with HIPAA and JCAHO regulations, accreditation processes, and other state and federal requirements.
- Organizations should also assess the cost of not investing in health IT. For example, if appropriate tools are not implemented to support patient billing office, it could result in additional staffing, an increase in accounts receivable, and lower patient satisfaction.
- Organizations should look at a longer term vision and strategy when considering the acquisition of an EHR system. Use of the planned National Health Information Network (NHIN) and Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIO) will necessitate the use of an EHR system in order to exchange data with others.
- Finally, while it is important to calculate the expected benefits, it is equally important to measure realization of actual benefits a year or so after the system has been implemented.
The actual benefits can be summarized as follows:
- EHR Systems
- It is estimated that over 5 years, EHR benefits will be $86,400 per provider and the benefits will be accrued by several stakeholders such as physician practices, ancillary services, pharmacies and most importantly patients
- Ohio State University Health System reduced the time for getting medication to patients by 65 percent from 5.28 hours to 1.51 hours. They also reduced Radiology turnaround from 7.37 hours to 4.21 hours
- Maimonides Medical Center reported 30.4 percent reduction in average length of stay from 7.26 to 5.05 days. They also realized organizational efficiencies by preventing duplicate ancillary tests
- Heritage Behavioral Health experienced 70 percent reduction in cost of clinical documentation with EHR
- University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center gained significant benefits in reallocation of nursing time from manual documentation to direct care - estimated to be $1.2 million
- e-Prescriptions
- Many errors occur because of handwritten prescriptions that can be easily misunderstood and can result in adverse drug events or complications. More than 3 billion prescriptions are written annually and according to an eHI report, medication errors account for 1 out 131 ambulatory care deaths and many deaths in acute care are also attributed to medication error.
- Studies indicate that the national savings from universal adoption could be as high as $27 billion annually
- Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE)
- The Center for Information Technology Leadership (CITL) estimates that implementing advanced ambulatory CPOE systems would eliminate over 2 million drug events per year; avoid nearly 13 million physician visits, 190,000 admissions and over 130,000 life-threatening adverse drug events per year and save $44 billion per year.
- Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston reported 55 percent reduction in serious medication errors and 17 percent reduction in preventable Adverse Drug Events (ADE) - average cost of an ADE was $2,595, resulting in projected savings of $480,000 per year. They estimated net savings from $5 million to $10 million per year.
- Maimonides Medical Center in New York realized 55 percent decrease in medication discrepancies and 58 percent reduction in problem medication orders. They also eliminated pharmacy transcription errors.
- Children's Hospital of Pittsburg has eradicated handwriting transcription errors completely and cut harmful medication errors by 75 percent.
