“A capital expenditure is a commitment of resources that is expected to provide benefits during a reasonably long period, at least two or more years” (Cleverley & Cameron, 2007, p. 397). Torrington Health and Rehabilitation Center a skilled nursing facility in Connecticut has determined that a capital expenditure of the implementation of electronic medical records (EMR) for the coming year is of importance. The cost of the undertaking will be approximately $200,000. This will include the software, hardware, labor, training, and service costs. The following paper will discuss how the purchase of electronic medical record software and hardware will support management and organizational goals based on need, and how the economic environment of the organization will improve over time.
Management Goals
Productivity
One of the goals of the management team at Torrington Health and Rehabilitation Center is that of productivity. As the facility becomes more automated through the use of the EMR system tasks such as filing and pulling physicians orders for renewal and documentation redundancies on multiple forms will no longer be labor intensive. Gathering data for chart audits to determine code status, new physician orders, and completion and accuracy of assessments can all be done with ease. The management team would also like to implement the technology with an interface to the business office. Billing and reimbursement can improve and stream line compliance with skilled nursing facility regulations such as the minimum data set, and Medicare, and Medicaid. The time needed to gather data for additional documentation requests from Medicare and Medicaid will also be reduced.
Efficiency
Productivity is just the starting point with an increase in staff retention and satisfaction. The efficiency in which documentation can be retrieved and documented with little to no errors is important in health care. Physicians will have access to data such
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