How Much Should You Pay For An EMR System?
EMR pricing is difficult as any number of factors can impact the total cost of ownership, such as:
- Are you also integrating practice management applications such as scheduling and billing?
- What types of users will be accessing the system and how many need unique logins?
- How many patients are seen per day?
- Will you need extra help with training and setup, or does your office have dedicated IT staff?
- Do you need to migrate patient data from a current system or are you starting fresh?
A vendor could quote you hundreds of dollars less or thousands more for the same system, depending on how you answer these questions. Fortunately, Gaby Loria, Senior Medical Market Researcher at tech comparison site Software Advice (a Gartner Company), took time to discuss EMR systems — from cloud-based EMR options to potential hidden costs.
Q: In your EMR pricing guide, you analyzed EMR buyer budgets and broke down how much money they plan to spend on software by practice size. What was the most revealing finding?
Loria: Most of the budget data we evaluated was for monthly spends on subscription-based EMRs, which are typically hosted on the cloud. This is a different model than perpetual license systems, which require you to pay upfront fees to own an EMR software license and are typically hosted on a practice’s own servers.
It’s been fascinating seeing cloud-based software become the go-to option for smaller practices — none of the small practice (one to five doctors) buyers in our sample preferred perpetual license systems. On the other hand, nearly one-quarter (22 percent) of those in large practices (26 or more doctors) specifically budgeted for a perpetual license EMR.
Q: What other health IT buyer trends should clinicians consider when evaluating a purchase?
Loria: We’ve been noticing a steady rise in EMR replacements (versus first-time purchases), which indicates two things: many products are failing to meet providers’ needs and practitioners are becoming more discerning about their software selection because they’re savvier shoppers.
It’s so important for health IT buyers to carefully consider the usability, feature set, and support offerings a vendor offers before they buy a product. If there are specific system requirements as a result of practice focus (such as the ability to maintain GAF Charts or do special imaging) make sure to note those as “must have” features. Replacing an EMR can be an expensive and time-consuming task, so that should really be a last resort.
Q: Small practices of one to five doctors may have a hard time justifying the expense of an EMR, particularly when your data shows the greatest percentage of buyers in this category are budgeting a little less than $500/month for these systems. How can cost-conscious providers be convinced that there’s an ROI here?
Loria: That’s a concern we often hear from practices that contact us. With EMRs, you really have to prepare for the possibility there will be some initial productivity and profitability losses as you adjust your workflow to the new system. However, there’s no reason to get discouraged.
A great system will reward its user by offering cost-savings (e.g., reducing the need for paper and file storage space), greater efficiency (e.g., automating tedious or error-prone manual tasks) and improved patient health outcomes (e.g., generating clinical alerts and providing decision support tools).
Q: Your pricing guide also covers some hidden costs for buyers to watch out for. Which one is the most likely to cause sticker shock?
Loria: Data migration can be a hefty expense, but it’s often treated as an afterthought because some people assume it’s easy to transfer patient records from one system to another. This cost should not be underestimated!