Good news for not-for-profits

Modern Healthcare Online

With the HIMMS conference this week in New Orleans, there will be many more additional news items coming forth this week as well. BD

The Internal Revenue Service may soon rule that not-for-profit hospitals can subsidize the cost of e-prescribing and electronic medical records systems for their affiliated physicians without jeopardizing the hospitals' tax-exempt status, an HHS official told several hundred physician informaticists Sunday during a pre-conference session at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society trade show in New Orleans.
This is a horrible way to start your process, that you’re going to reduce staff," he said. "You get a lot of passive-aggressive behavior."

Parker said changing workflow often creates short-term productivity losses, so IT conversions place financial stresses on a small group or solo practice beyond the cost of the IT systems alone. Physicians shouldn’t look to IT to rescue a financially troubled practice.

"We’ve actually seen failures that have caused the practice to break up or go bankrupt," Parker said. "You have to make sure the practice is financially healthy enough to be able to stand that, at least on a 90-day implementation schedule."