Wake Forest Climbs Out Of Epic Hole After EHR Adoption

Things are looking up for Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina after a difficult year in 2013.  Slammed by unexpected costs and huge losses stemming from the implementation of an Epic EHR system, the hospital has struggled to maintain its financial health while attracting enough patients to keep it in the black.  But the Winston-Salem Journal reports some good news for the beleaguered hospital in its second fiscal quarter of 2014: reduced expenses credited to a new management direction and a firm commitment to pull itself back from the brink.

After spending more than $260 million last year trying to get its expensive Epic system online, the hospital reported a half a million dollars in overall loss for the fiscal year, rescinded merit-based pay raises for its staff, and announced plans to cut nearly a thousand jobs to tighten up its balance sheets.  This year, however, the hospital is pleased to report $960.4 million in revenue, $40 million more than the same point the previous year.  Losses from core operating sources of revenue were slashed in half from nearly $50 million to $23.5 million, and the medical center predicts lessening losses from its Epic implementation, indicating an upward trend.