Hospital execs worried about EHR transition costs

Nearly one-fourth of hospital executives (24 percent) are extremely concerned about costs related to making a complete transition to an electronic medical record (EMR) system.

U.S. News & World Report and Fidelity Investments surveyed 1,852 hospital executives--asking a series of questions ranging from hospital readmissions to accountable care organizations. Their responses each were ranked on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being "extremely concerned" and 5 being "not at all concerned." For EMR questions, a response of 6 meant that the respondents had already made a transitions to such technology.

Only about 3 percent of execs said they were not concerned at all about transitioning to an EMR system. Nineteen percent indicated they already had made such a transition. In addition, hospital executive also were asked about their concern regarding the process of fully integrating EMRs into their hospitals' operations and culture--including retention and training of staff and physicians. Twenty-two percent said they were extremely concerned, while about 5 percent said had no worries.