Transfer to electronic medical records can be irksome, pricey

Earlier this month, the federal government released rules intended to help physicians and hospitals pay for the onerous task of taking medical records completely into the electronic age.

The rules establish how doctors and hospitals must use the systems – called “meaningful use” – in order to be partially reimbursed for the cost of going electronic with software that also must follow federal guidelines.

Doctors and hospitals have been slowly converting to electronic records since the early 2000s, beginning with basics such as clinical notes. Providers will need to demonstrate that they’re using electronic health records according to the rules by 2015.

Physicians and their staffs say they are finding the process to be extremely labor-intensive and costly.

North Jersey Pediatric Orthopaedics PA in Ridgewood, N.J., is in the throes of system conversion.

Office manager Joanne McKendry, who has spent a year and a half researching software providers, expects she will spend about 100 hours customizing diagnostic and procedure codes and setting up insurance carriers. Others in the office will spend about 45 hours each in training, she said.

David Konigsberg, one of the two surgeons running the practice, said he will also spend about 100 hours setting up electronic medical charts to accept patient examination notes the way he wants to dictate them.

“It’s totally generic,” said Konigsberg of the software. “There’s not a single thing I can use out of the box on this.”

Licensing the software is costing $80,000 for two doctors, with $8,000 per doctor for annual system maintenance and support, said Konigsberg. Storing data externally will cost another $3,500 a year, he added.

“I don’t personally see it as a big boon to patient care,” he said. “It’s definitely a step in right direction, but we’re not there yet.”