I just finished reading this article called Doctors for sale on Nashville post. The basic idea is that it is becoming harder and harder for doctors to be working solo and as a result more and more doctors are choosing to join hospitals instead of flying solo.
Faced with declining reimbursements, closed-off revenue streams, capital investment pressures and the changes of health care reform, many doctors are turning to hospital and health system employment to safeguard their financial and lifestyle stability…
But declining physician incomes aren’t the only problem. Like so many entrepreneurs, doctors face pressure to spend on new equipment and technology. In particular, physicians are mulling the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s provision to reimburse doctors and hospitals for part of the cost of implementing electronic health records — if they show they’re meeting certain usage benchmarks and thus help lower administrative costs.
The cost of maintaining an EHR system is definitely a burden on doctors that would much prefer to fly solo. If an independent physician implements an EHR system in his clinic, he would need to hire an technical administrator just to keep the system up and running. In this regard, there should be a push for SAAS based EHR system in which it can help lighten the cost for independent clinics. If not, hospital will be the only place where you will be seeing your doctor.