By now, everyone is aware of the financial incentives available for clinicians who switch to Electronic Medical Records. The incentives are supposed to help clinics offset their costs while they digitize their entire office, including getting rid of those awful filing cabinets.
Before too much excitement sets in, you should also be aware that while rehab professionals are not eligible for the financial incentives. The reasons for this exclusion are confusing, but we will save that for another blog post.
The lack of funds for Physical Therapists highlights a big factor in all of this. The EMR system they choose to put in place must increase profits or save the clinic money. The system must add productivity and lower costs without having a large start up investment. Most Therapists don’t have a large capital reserve to put up $30,000 to $60,0000 to get up and running with a new system.
A great article from Plus91, recently put forth some practical ways an EMR can drive up clinic revenues:
- Better management of time,
- portability and access,
- minimizing errors and
- maximizing security
Through a few key advantages, therapists can find a way to increase clinic profits.
How are therapists using WebPT saving money?
- Time saved on documentation – Therapists using WebPT are reporting savings of 1 to 2 hours per therapist per day. Featured members such as McGovern Physical Therapy Associates and Archer Physical Therapy and Pilates have found that the incentives aren’t what’s important to their bottom line. Instead, it’s more about time savings for their therapists, ease of use and savings that are realized throughout their practice.
- Paper and Staff Resources – Through the use of faxing, document storage, less paper (or no paper) and other means, many clinics are seeing up to $30,000 savings per year by going digital with a system that provides more accurate reporting and allowing them to provide quality patient care.
