A Standard Model For Evaluating Return On Investment From Electronic Health Record Implementation
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) is a nonprofit organization providing unbiased and authoritative research and advice to both decision makers and the public. Established in 1970, the IOM is the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, chartered under President Lincoln in 1863. Through their research efforts the organization helps both the government and private sector make informed decisions on healthcare. You can follow their work on Twitter @theIOM, on Facebook and on Linkedin.
The IOM regularly publishes white papers on topics ranging from public health issues, biomedical research, quality and patient safety, population and health disparities, and more. This month the Institute released the discussion paper, Return on Information: A Standard Model for Assessing Institutional Return on Electronic Health Records. In the paper and accompanying worksheet the authors lay the foundations of an evaluation model for use by health system management teams and clinicians for “calculating the financial implications, benefits, and costs of implementing and optimizing EHRs and related technologies.”
The paper and financial model are a collaboration of the Institutes Digital Learning Collaborative and members of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). While current Federal initiatives and business environments are pushing EHR adoption and implementation, the authors address some common challenges impacting investment decisions by providers. They suggest that a standard model providing “consistent comparison across EHR implementations can enable more useful assessments of the value of EHR systems and the related process re-engineering necessary to realize that value fully.”