News

Information technology costs rose 28% in 5 years


 

Information technology cost medical offices $19,439 per full-time physician in 2012, an increase of 28% since 2008, the Medical Group Management Association reported.

The median IT cost per physician went up a modest 1% from 2011, when it was $19,178. The largest yearly increase since 2008 occurred from 2010 to 2011, when it jumped 24%. Before that, the median cost had fallen from $16,276 in 2009 to $15,452 in 2010 – a decrease of 5%, according to the MGMA’s "Cost Survey: 2013 Report Based on 2012 Data."

Medical practices also reported increases in median staffing costs, as total business operations staff per 10,000 patients increased almost 9% – from 6.56 in 2011 to 7.13 in 2012, the MGMA said in its report, which was based on data from 2,411 group practices.

rfranki@frontlinemedcom.com

Recommended Reading

Retail clinics seeking stronger partnerships with physicians
MDedge Family Medicine
Online tool calculates Medicare incentives, penalties
MDedge Family Medicine
Are doctors ‘gaming’ the incentive programs? CMS wants to know
MDedge Family Medicine
Mortality data prompt boxed warning for tigecycline
MDedge Family Medicine
Amyloid imaging scans limited to specific patients in clinical trials
MDedge Family Medicine
Sebelius: Shutdown, sequester bad for medical research
MDedge Family Medicine
Federal shutdown begins; health programs impacted
MDedge Family Medicine
For patients, it’s all about the white coat
MDedge Family Medicine
Obamacare exchanges open for enrollment during shutdown
MDedge Family Medicine
Survey: EHR use cuts into resident education, productivity
MDedge Family Medicine