I’d like to start with discussing our options for implementation of our proposed capital budget item; eClinicalWorks EMR. eClinicalWorks offers us a few different purchase options. I will be referring to eClinicalWorks as ECW throughout this paper.
EHR Only Plus 2.9% of Practice Collections
EHR with Practice Management
$449/mo per provider
$599/mo per provider
With this option, they do the billing for you but get 2.9% of what is collected.
This option allows us to do our own billing.
I believe the best option for our practice is the latter. I think that the control over doing our own billing is essential not to mention we won’t be losing revenue to someone else to do something we can do and have been doing for years. …show more content…
Advantages
Disadvantages
No startup costs.
Having to pay 2.9% of our collected monies to ECW after we receive our payments.
Includes all the same benefits except practice management and billing implementation services.
The monthly cost for our 15 providers at $449 each equals $6,735.00. In addition, we will be paying them 2.9% of whatever accounts receivable was paid that month. The yearly total will be $80,820.00 plus the 2.9%.
Our checks come directly to us and not ECW.
ECW processes insurances claims by using national rules and criteria so we will always be compliant.
The 2.9% ECW charges is low compared to other billing services; which can charge up to 12%.
ECW has a reputation of 98% of claims being paid on the first try. This is well above the industry standard.
ECW also manages the denials and underpayments for us.
Advantages and Disadvantages of EHR with Practice …show more content…
However, I think that the benefits will be far reaching. We will ultimately be able to have a more streamlined work flow that will make us more productive. We will be able to function with less staff once we are up and running as there are positions we will no longer need; I.E. a runner to obtain the charts. The communication between the providers and the nurses will be easier and allow for providers to even respond to messages at home if they wish. This ultimately provides our patients with better care as they have more access to us and will receive the answers to their questions in a timelier manner. My proposal will affect the key healthcare operating indicators for revenue cycle; day cash on hand, claims denial rate, cash receipt to bad debt, total accounts receivable and payable days outstanding, total operating margin, and accounts receivable days due to coding. As we discussed, whichever ECW system we choose there are applications in the software that assist with coding, claim denials, accounts receivable and payable, and we can run reports to see what our cash flow looks like on a daily and monthly basis. The healthcare operating indicators for inpatient flow does not affect this facility because it is more geared towards hospitals and not