Physicians: EHR Costs Outweigh Financial Benefits

Ashley Gold | FierceHealthIT | August 16, 2013

Electronic health record provider athenahealth's recently published Physician Sentiment Index report finds that although most physicians believe EHRs can improve outcomes, more than half also say that the cost of such tools outweighs their benefit.

The Watertown, Mass.-based vendor polled 1,200 physicians: 70 percent specialists, 47 percent independent practitioners and 30 percent primary-care doctors.

While most respondents said they liked EHRs (38 percent reported a "somewhat favorable" opinion, while 31 percent had a "very favorable" opinion), 51 percent of respondents said the financial benefits of EHRs do not outweigh the cost. The report points out that independent physicians are more likely to feel this way than employed physicians.