AMA EMR costs
Make sure you understand both the implementation costs (one time set-up) as well as the ongoing (licensing and maintenance) costs for the products you are considering.
Set Up Costs
There are many costs to implementing an EMR system, some of which may be unexpected costs like staff overtime, reduced revenue during initial implementation period or vendor travel costs. Studies suggest that initial costs average $30,000 per physician. Set up costs typically include the following:
Vendor set-up fees including the cost to build a system for your practice, vendor travel and implementation assistance.
Add-ons or customization of the software for your practice.
Interfaces with other systems in your practice (practice management, affiliated hospital or diagnostic lab systems).
New PCs for each exam room, physician office and staff stations.
Hardware for networking of PCs including wireless routers and/or cable installation and file servers (if the vendor is not an ASP provider).
New printers to be stationed close to exam rooms and/or in physician offices.
Scanning of existing paper charts and conversion of paper charts to electronic format.
Training classes, lost staff productivity, lost physician revenue and potential overtime.
Ongoing Costs
After initial costs of purchase and implementation, costs typically stabilize. Ongoing costs can range from $3,000-$15,000 per physician per year. Ongoing costs include:
Leasing costs with the software vendor.
Maintenance of the software such as upgrades or further customization. These costs may sometimes be included as part of the vendor licensing contract.
Annual subscription and technology support for hardware or software. These costs may be included as part of an ASP contract.
High speed internet connectivity, particularly for ASP arrangements
Security, firewall and virus protection applications to protect your patient data and office productivity.
Back up procedures and additional storage for EMR data.
On-board training of new physicians or staff.