With electronic health records and the move to population health spreading across the U.S., physician costs to keep up have reached more than $32,000 per doctor annually.
Doctor-owned multi-specialty practices spent more than $32,500 in 2015 on new health IT, staff, maintenance and related costs last year, according to a new analysis from the Medical Group Management Association. The news isn’t so great for doctors, who have watched their health IT expenses climb more than 40% since 2009 before government rules and related financial repercussions began pushing them into the digital age. Divya Shroff, associate chief of staff at the Veterans Administration Hospital, left, shows medical students the facility’s electronic medical records system in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 9, 2009. (Bloomberg photo: Joshua Roberts)
“While technology plays a crucial role in helping healthcare organizations evolve to provide higher-quality, value-based care, this transition is becoming increasingly expensive,” Dr. Halee Fischer-Wright, chief executive of the Medical Group Management Association said in a statement accompanying the analysis. MGMA drew responses from more than 3,100 doctor practices across the country for its figures.
Dispatches From The Front 