Medical practices stress over EMR conversion
Selecting and implementing an electronic health record system is among the top concerns physician practice managers list in a new survey by the Medical Group Management Association. According to the research, the top five major challenges of running a group practice are Maintaining physician compensation in an environment of declining reimbursement; Dealing with operating costs that are rising more rapidly than revenue; Selecting and implementing a new electronic health record system; Recruiting physicians; and Managing finances with the uncertainty of Medicare reimbursement rates. The MGMA conducted the survey online, and received 1,393 responses.
EHR firm offers $50,000 grants to Florida clinics
In an effort to assist small to medium-sized practices and community health centers in Florida, electronic health record provider Sevocity, a division of Conceptual MindWorks, Inc., is offering $50,0000 in grants to spur clinics to adopt EHRs. Burke Bomar, Sevocity’s Florida account manager, is overseeing the program. The grants will be available for the first clinics that sign up for the program or until the maximum funds available have been reached. “I was impressed with how Sevocity’s user-friendly software makes it easy for clinics to adopt Electronic Health Records,” said Bomar. “The grant program will make it even more affordable for clinics to achieve the efficiency improvements and cost-savings associated with EHRs. I look forward to growing Sevocity’s client base in Florida.”
State grant helps rural Calif. hospital with EHR
Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital will launch an electronic health record, thanks to a $334,268 grant from a state charitable fund. The $50 million fund was established by state regulators in 2005 when PacifiCare Health Systems merged with UnitedHealth Group. The community-wide EHR system is expected to benefit physicians by enabling them to leverage the hospital’s IT infrastructure and its disaster recovery site. It will save at least $25,000 each in startup costs and licensing and hardware maintenance and upgrades, Freitas said, a significant savings from the industry standard of between $40,000 to $60,000 per physician office to implement an EHR system.