Physician-owned multi-specialty practices spent over $32,5000 per each full-time physician on IT equipment, staff, maintenance and other similar expenses in 2015, according to data from the 2016 Medical Group Management Association Cost and Revenue Report.
Technology costs for these practices have increased 40 percent from 2009 to 2015, with the largest IT expense increase occurring in 2010 and 2011, according to the report. This may reflect the 2009 HITECH Act that incentivized providers to use certified electronic health records.
But the incentives considerably waned in 2011, which placed the burden of maintaining EHRs on providers.
“While technology plays a crucial role in helping healthcare organizations evolve to provide higher-quality, value-based care, this transition is becoming increasingly expensive,” said MGMA President and CEO Halee Fischer-Wright in a statement.
“We remain concerned that far too much of a practice’s IT investment is tied directly to complying with the ever-increasing number of federal requirements, rather than to providing better patient care,” she added.
IT expenses have increased about 47 percent per full-time physician, with a steady year-over-year uptick, which suggests larger IT investments haven’t significantly improved practice efficiency, according to the report. Other IT trends, like online patient portals have contributed to the excessive costs.
Operating expenses for physician-owned multi-specialty practices have increased by about 15 percent per full-time physician in 2015, compared to the more than 10 percent increase in revenue for practices during the same time period, the report found.
Further, those practices part of accountable care organizations saw lower expenses and higher revenues in 2015 than in 2014. For payer changes, hospital-owned practices reported Medicaid represented 14 percent of 2015 changes, while physician-owned groups only reported 7 percent.
“Unless we see significant changes in the final MIPS/APM rule, practice IT costs will continue to rise without a corresponding improvement in the care delivery process,” said Fischer-Wright.
MGMA’s 2016 cost survey and benchmarking tool breaks down detailed cost and revenue for healthcare organizations by specialty, ownership and geographic region.
