Higher Electronic Health Record Functionality Is Associated With Lower Operating Costs in Urban—but Not Rural—Hospitals

Date
07/2022
Journal
Applied Clinical Informatics
Description

This study examines the relationship between electronic health record (EHR) use/functionality and hospital operating costs and compares the results across rural and urban facilities. Increases in EHR functionality (i.e. the number of EHR functions available) are associated with reductions in total hospital costs, driven mainly by lower outpatient costs. Improvements in EHR functionality do not seem to significantly reduce costs for rural hospitals.

Center
Center for Economic Analysis of Rural Health
Authors
Claudia Rhoades, Brian Whitacre, Alison Davis