EHR Implementation Reduces Practice Productivity By 11%, But Increases Revenue Due To More Ancillary Office Procedures

After implementing an electronic health record (EHR), physician practice productivity dropped by 11% for the next two years. These findings are the result of an analysis of 30 practices that implemented EHRs from February 2007 to April 2009. The practice physicians saw 18 fewer patients per physician each quarter; before implementing the EHR, each physician saw an average of 164 patients each quarter. Despite the lower productivity, practice revenues increased by about $3,000 per physician each quarter because the practice was billing for more ancillary office procedures, such as drawing blood, immunizations, wound care, or ultrasounds.

These findings were . . .