How to make a paperless office work for you.(Practice Trends)

SAN FRANCISCO -- There is a cost-effective way to go paperless and make a profit for your group practice, Jeffrey P. Friedman, M.D., said at the annual meeting of the American College of Physicians.

Dr. Friedman, an internist and founding partner of Murray Hill Medical Group in New York, increased office appointments--and saved $238,000 annually in staff pay and benefits--by installing an electronic medical record (EMR) system and integrating the new technology on a gradual basis, cutting down on staff and phone time.

Patient registrations grew rapidly (currently at 18,000), and salaries for the group's internists and subspecialists in 2004 were two to three times the national average, Dr. Friedman said.

Murray Hill started out in 1992 with just a few partners and associates, one exam room per physician, and no ancillary help, using a local, small electronic billing package. Over the years, the practice filled its space, adding more subspecialty partners, associates, and equipment, and in 1998 acquired an EMR system. The practice added online bill paying this year.

The practice now has 35 doctors, an office lab, and a technician who oversees the fully automated practice. "Our employee/doctor ratio is very low," he said.

Installing an EMR system does cost money, "but a major thing physicians need to understand is that you have to spend money to make money," Dr. Friedman said. In his experience, "those bucks are not out of control" if invested in the right kind of system.

When considering software vendors, it's important to visit practice sites that are using installed systems. He suggested that physicians look at big vendors that are likely to be in business at least 10 to 20 years down the road. "This is a big investment, because whatever one you buy you're going to live with for a long time," he noted. The problem with medical records is that if you decide to dump one, "you can't convert the data from one system to another."