The healthcare sector is one field that deals with a wide range of records, including patient information, doctor data, and disease information, among others. It is, therefore, the reason why healthcare institutions are highly considering the implementation of technologies to handle healthcare data and information. The Electronic Health Record system is critical in handling healthcare records electronically. With every healthcare institution focusing on improving healthcare services through technology, many aspire to integrate EHR systems within their service provision. However, with the integration of such systems comes the need for understanding the entire cost of implementing or putting the systems in place.

Therefore, this piece entirely focuses on the implementation cost of EHR systems. Implementing EHRs in the healthcare sector requires a proper understanding of the typical costs involved during the implementation process. With an appropriate understanding of the costing details, you will have a deep knowledge of adequate healthcare business planning, which will help you benefit from the EHR system implementation. But before we delve any further, let’s understand the EHR system.

An in-depth understanding of the Electronic Healthcare Record system

An EHR system is essential for handling patient medical histories and all related data. It requires consistent maintenance to keep track of patient information or clinical data. It stores data related to persons or patients, including hospital demographics, medical reports, and history. The EHR system allows you to quickly implement the workflow within a clinical environment. The system also supports other healthcare-related services and comes with proper user interfaces, thus ensuring proper services.

The Electronic Healthcare Record system is the pathway to continued swift relationships between clinicians and patients. As this piece will explore, it is essential to establish the appropriate cost to implement it.

Let’s discuss the cost of implementing an EHR system, exploring the factors involved and the entire cost breakdown. Let’s examine the breakdown of implementing the Electronic Health Record system in any healthcare environment.

Cost Breakdown – EHR Implementation

When analyzing the cost of implementing the EHR system in the healthcare sector, it is essential to consider four key areas: direct, indirect, staff-related, and unexpected costs. Such costs are expected even when implementing any other type of system. Therefore, when establishing the final price of implementing the EHR system in the healthcare sector, this piece will focus on the four types of expenses. With each cost type, you can independently establish the budgeting strategy, reflecting the actual figure for implementing the EHR system.

Let’s dive into each type of cost to have an in-depth understanding.

• Direct costs

When implementing an EHR system, it is essential to understand that direct costs play a more significant part in establishing its final cost. They are automatic costs that you will always need to have to have the system developed and implemented. Direct costs, in this case, mean the costs that occur as direct expenses associated with the implementation of the EHR. The costs are associated with acquiring, installing, and integrating the system into the healthcare sector or environment. The costs address various aspects, including software licensing, customization, implementation, and hardware services. Therefore, it deals with upfront costs associated with purchasing or implementing the software license, costs associated with customizing the system to suit the healthcare environment workflow, costs associated with covering infrastructure and hardware that works perfectly with the system, and professional costs paid to experts to implement EHR software.

• Indirect costs

When implementing the EHR system, you will encounter additional costs that come indirectly from implementing some aspects within the EHR system. It is thus essential to consider the possibility of indirect costs, which may be outside the system adoption process. Some indirect costs to expect when implementing the Electronic Health Record system are associated with downtime and maintenance costs. At some point, the system may experience downtimes and, therefore, the need for expenditures to cover the loss of productivity in case of downtimes. Downtimes are always expected in the initial days of implementing the new system, as users or employees may take time to adapt or transit to the new system.

On the other hand, the EHR system might demand extra costs associated with its maintenance. The expenses ensure technical support and frequent updates to prevent the system from unnecessary failures.

• Staff-related costs

Other critical costs associated with implementing the EHR system include staff-related costs. Implementing a new system in the healthcare sector will always require integration and interaction with staff within the healthcare environment. The interaction and integration of staff into the new system come with extra expenses. The costs are majorly directed towards staff training in the new system adoption process. The extent of staff-related costs hugely depends on the healthcare organization’s size and the complexity of its operations, among others. Every healthcare organization with an integrated EHR system will require labor expenses to train staff and their salaries and wages to operate or interact with the system. There are also costs associated with clinicians and staff when interacting with patients and providing continuous healthcare services.

• Unexpected costs

Another set of costs to expect when implementing EHR systems include unexpected costs. Unforeseen costs may occur later or even after implementing the system. Some of the standard unexpected costs to expect include the change management costs which entirely involve expenses related to handling the resistance that might come with implementing the system – not everyone will need the system integrated into the healthcare environment. The changes may also affect the usual workflow or operations within the healthcare environment and, therefore, the need to have extra costs to handle the same. Other unexpected costs include compliance costs and other unforeseen integration expenses.

Having understood the critical types of implementation costs that add to the general cost of implementing an EHR system, let’s examine the key factors affecting the implementation cost.

Key factors affecting EHR implementation cost

Several factors affect the final cost of implementing an EHR system within the healthcare sector. Therefore, it is essential to consider all the factors before implementing the EHR system in any related healthcare environment. Let’s dive into a deep understanding of these critical factors, which will, in turn, help establish the final cost.

• Hardware and network

With system implementation in any organization or healthcare environment, there is an excellent need for hardware and network. Therefore, setting aside proper funds for hardware and networks is essential. Some hardware that might be needed in the system implementation process include workstations, servers, and networking equipment, among other related devices. It is necessary to understand that hardware and network implementation within the system might come with varying costs depending on the size of the healthcare environment within which the system is being implemented. It is, therefore, essential to make thorough consultations with the healthcare provider to gain a deeper understanding of the actual cost of hardware and network, which generally impact the final cost of implementing the EHR system. However, with the variance of costs in hardware and network, the possible estimate to incur lies in the range between $10,000 to $100,000. The costs may also exceed the range depending on the scale of the work and the associated requirements during the integration and installation of the EHR system.

• Deployment model

The deployment model used in deploying the EHR system significantly impacts the cost of fully implementing the EHR system. There are different models with which to deploy a system, including the cloud and on-premise models. The on-premise deployment model allows the hosting of the EHR system on personal servers with a perpetual software license. With on-premise deployment, users have total control over the system and its management, but it comes with lots of costs as hardware is needed. The average costs to incur when implementing the EHR system of the on-premise model lie between $1,000 and $500,000. Other fees might arise with ongoing support or extra hardware needs.

The cloud-based option of deploying the EHR system allows remote data storage on vendor servers at flexible subscription plans. The cloud-based deployment comes with management services; therefore, subscription is the approach to accessing these cloud-based services. Costs may vary depending on the vendor; thus, you only need to select the appropriate vendor for your desired service. The average costs may vary between $200 and $35,000 per month.

• Implementation support

When implementing and integrating the EHR system in your healthcare environment, you might need extra support from the vendor. You will, therefore, need to incorporate off-shelf support platforms to help in the implementation, as they require minimal implementation support. They also come with easier installation processes. However, when you consider custom EHR solutions to customize the EHR system to suit your needs, you should always be ready to pay extra fees as the implementation support cost is involved in the development price to come up with the final EHR implementation cost.

• Employee training

Employee training is another critical factor directly affecting the final cost of implementing the EHR system in any healthcare environment. Therefore, once you have completely installed the EHR system in the healthcare environment, you must provide enough training to employees and staff to facilitate an easier transition into the new system. It is also important to note that the employee or staff training costs might vary depending on several other factors, including the system complexity, healthcare organization size, and workflow modifications required. Therefore, It is essential to set aside resources and funds to facilitate training employees and staff to ensure easier system adoption. Costs for training staff averagely range between $2,000 to $20,000. However, there might be some variance depending on the duration and level of system customization.

• Ongoing EHR maintenance and support

With every system comes the need for maintenance and support and, therefore, the need to arm yourself with funds to facilitate maintenance and support for the EHR system. With continued maintenance, the system gains stability and, thus, can handle problems that might come during the system’s operation. When estimating maintenance costs, it is essential to understand the maintenance services appropriately involved.  You will need upgrades and consistent system performance monitoring. With maintenance, you might need to increase the system’s memory capacity, integrate new features, or perform any related enhancement. It is also essential to understand that maintenance occurs in stages, and the first year might cost between $10,000 to $50,000. However, the costs might increase or decrease depending on the complexity of the system and the level of maintenance service provided. A more complex system with a high-level maintenance service means more costs will be incurred.

• The final cost of Implementing EHR

Having understood the considerations to make when estimating the actual cost of implementing an EHR system, it is essential to explore an in-depth understanding of its final cost. There are often hidden costs associated with implementing the EHR system. Therefore, it is necessary to address them to understand the final cost of implementing the system in the healthcare environment. Some of the hidden costs might arise in the following areas:

• Data migration

The need for migrating data comes with integrating a new system in any healthcare environment. You will need to transfer healthcare information from the initial system into the new EHR system, which might incur extra costs. You, therefore, need to invest in tools and experts who will help you migrate data from the initial system into the new one. The cost of migrating the data into the new EHR system depends on several factors, including the data complexity and format, among many others. The cost of performing data migrations ranges from $5,000 to $150,000 and might vary depending on the factors stated.

• Integration with other systems

It is essential to understand that the EHR system requires interaction with other systems within the healthcare environment. It is, therefore, necessary to invest in proper integration with other systems as it comes with additional costs. Some integration services involved include API integration, customization, and interoperability. Some standard systems that might be integrated with the EHR include patient portal software, healthcare CRM, and radiology information systems. The cost of integrating with other systems might range from $5,000 to $200,000 but may vary depending on the complexity of requirements.

• Software licensing

Software licensing is another critical factor affecting the general cost of implementing an EHR system within any healthcare environment. Hidden costs arise in licensing, including ongoing subscription fees, user licenses, or add-on modules, which come at extra charges. It is also essential to budget for hidden costs in software licensing, and your budget should range from $10,000 to $100,000. Other expenses that might arise along the way include regulatory compliance.

How to optimize the Cost of EHR implementation

Implementing an EHR system in the healthcare environment can be costly, especially when unprepared. It is, therefore, essential to explore alternatives to help you optimize the costs of implementing the system. Some of the common approaches to help you optimize the discussed expenses include:

• Partnership with a reliable software vendor

In the software market, you can easily reach out to reliable software vendors who offer systems at affordable prices. Partnering with such vendors is essential to providing seamless and operational EHR systems. It is also important to explore the initial track records of such vendors and the initial costs for the software they release.

• Open-source libraries

Integrating open-source libraries into your EHR system will help you save a lot of expenses associated with development and implementation. With open-source software, you can leverage built-in components that facilitate faster development, thus saving time and related costs.

• Use MVP before developing the actual product.

With a Minimum Viable Product, you will enjoy lowered the expenses of developing and implementing the EHR system. Through user feedback, you will prioritize critical features and components, thus minimizing initial costs.

Most importantly, it focuses on security and protects the EHR system data, saving expenses that arise from security breaches. With a Minimum Viable Product, the developer of the EHR system can quickly assess the feedback from potential users and, therefore, refine development at every stage. When developing the product, the developers will enjoy affordable costs and cut down on extra expenses that might be incurred.

Conclusion

Having explored all the possible areas requiring costs in implementing the EHR systems, it is easier to establish the final cost by compiling the expenses in each section. Therefore, a collective cost for the implementation process is established by compiling all elements involved in implementing the EHR systems, depending on the healthcare environment within which the system needs to be implemented. With the discussions above, the approximate cost of implementing an EHR system ranges between $50,000 to $500,000. Notably, the cost varies depending on several factors, as discussed. Some key factors that affect this final cost are the healthcare organization’s needs and the functionality of the EHR system, among others. Remembering the need to assess an appropriate vendor to help you get proper EHR software at affordable costs is also essential. Whether you need customized software or any other system for your healthcare services, ensure to implement the system reliably and at affordable costs.

Looking for EHR implementation? We’re here to help! Contact our healthcare software development company, Aalpha Information Systems, your trusted partner in the industry!