Examples of Economic Effects of Health IT

P. Jon White MD

December 5, 2013

Tools, Systems, and Practices

• E-prescribing with formulary support

(FS) saves money; e-prescribing

without FS does not

• Health information exchange is

associated with net societal savings

• Implementation requires significant

time and money

► (600+ hrs per practice, 100+ hrs per

physician)

► ($162K, $85K in first year)

Citations

• Fischer MA, Vogeli C, Stedman M, Ferris T, Brookhart M, Weissman JS.

Effect of Electronic Prescribing With Formulary Decision Support on

Medication Use and Cost. Arch Intern Med. 2008;168(22):2433-2439.

doi:10.1001/archinte.168.22.2433.

• Frisse ME, Johnson KB, Nian H, Davison CL, Gadd CS, Unertl KM, Turri

PA, Chen Q. The financial impact of health information exchange on

emergency department care. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2012;19(3):328-333.

• Fleming NS, Culler SD, McCorkle R, Becker ER, Ballard DJ. The Financial

and Nonfinancial Costs of Implementing Electronic Health Records in

Primary Care Practices. Health Affairs. 2011; 30(3):481-489.