EHR Deployment Can Rattle Hospital Revenues

Another surprise was the mismatch that occurred between processes as mapped out for the EHR and what actually happened in the clinics. Nurses and physicians inevitably developed shortcuts relative to registering patients or shuffling visits to treat a more urgent case.

Mr. DiSanzo suggested that an unspoken schism between management’s expectations for EHR implementation and what really occurred in the clinics may also have contributed to the large drop in patient volume. When the volume really started to drop, the hospital worried that patients would go somewhere else, but that hasn’t happened.

In fact, billing has increased 22%, medication reconciliation and computerized physician order entry are both 100%, and patient volume is up 13% this year, even after accounting for other factors, he said.

The hospital is still wrestling with exactly what this means, but suspects that as staffers get more familiar with the EHR system, they’re finding new ways to increase their workflow or are having better patient encounters that result in patients following-up at other clinics within the system.

"Our culture isn’t cutting edge, bleeding edge, completely electronic," he said. "We’re like the nice friendly hospital down the block that you go to and receive this Marcus Welby kind of patient care; and, if we can do it, anybody can do it."

Mr. DiSanzo reported no relevant conflicts of interest.