Wake Forest Baptist Has Cost Overruns, Revenue Loss With Electronic Records System

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center’s struggles to implement its Epic electronic records system contributed to additional costs and lost revenue during the first half of its fiscal year 2012-13. The center provided the information in a second-quarter financial report submitted to bond agencies in which it also reported a $49.6 million operational loss and a gain of $7.4 million in overall excess revenue...

...The center has more than 13,000 full- and part-time employees — the county’s largest workforce. It announced in November it was eliminating 950 job positions, including 475 with current employees, by June 30 once it recognized the reduced revenue levels early in fiscal 2012-13.

Wake Forest Baptist said it spent as of Dec. 31 about $13.3 million directly on the Epic electronic-record system, which went live in September. Many health care systems in the Carolinas, including Novant Health Inc. and Cone Health, chose the Epic system to handle their electronic records. The center also cited $8 million in “other Epic-related implementation expense” that it listed among “business-cycle disruptions (that) have had a greater-than-anticipated impact on volumes and productivity.” Also listed was $26.6 million in lost margin “due to interim volume disruptions during initial go-live and post go-live optimization.”...