Implement well

Even if an EMR is super cheap, of course, you won’t see any return on your investment if you don’t implement it well — that is, if you don’t change operationally or if you don’t really use the system.

And that seems to happen a lot. A troubling 17 percent of practices we surveyed have an EMR they haven’t implemented.



“I’ve known people who have paid close to seven figures who have not fully implemented the EMR,” Krichmar says. “If you are not willing to make the changes, then you are wasting your money. The pricing is not scary; it’s more scary to make the change.”

One key to success is to take control of the process yourself, instead of relying exclusively on the vendor. Only you know how you need to re-work your processes. “Usually how companies ‘implement’ you is they load the software and train you [on] how they demo the product. What you really need to look for is an implementation plan that is based around processes. That’s what a successful EMR implementation is about: improving processes and gaining efficiencies,” says Leavitt.

So are you behind?

That’s a challenge. And it may be why EMR implementation remains relatively low. Thirty-five percent of our respondents have a fully implemented EMR. But while another 21 percent say they expect to get one within the next 12 months, an equal number say they’ll never get one.

Our data on adoption exposed three big surprises:



First, EMR adoption was about the same, regardless of group size. Historically, penetration has been highest among large groups; this data suggests some evening out.

Second, recent relaxations in the Stark regulations that allow hospitals to help private practices with technology investments have had little effect thus far: Only 5 percent of our respondents have an EMR from their hospitals.