Will Meaningful Use Lead To Reduced Costs For Hospitals?

One of the tenets driving the adoption of certified EHR technology as part of the EHR Incentive Programs is the belief that meaningful use will help improve healthcare costs. However, little information is available that speaks directly to the cost savings made possible by participating in meaningful use beyond the costs incurred by eligible hospitals and professionals in choosing, implementing, and maintaining their EHR systems.

New research appearing in a special issue of The American Journal of Managed Care attempts to answer the question of cost for hospitals: Will meaningful use of EHRs reduce costs? In their analysis of the cost-saving potential of five Stage 1 Meaningful Use requirements around adverse drug events (ADEs) in Florida hospitals, Encinosa & Bae came away with promising results:

We found that adopting all 5 medication management components of Stage 1 meaningful use reduced the rate of ADEs by 61% compared with not adopting all 5 components, and by 10% compared with adopting only 4 components. If all hospitals in Florida adopted all 5 components, 55,700 ADEs per year would be averted. At $4790 in hospital cost savings per averted ADE, that would save $267 million per year.