Electronic health records need monitoring - A Sixth Stage

http://bx.businessweek.com/american-medical-association/view?url=http%3A%2F%2Fesciencenews.com%2Farticles%2F2010%2F02%2F03%2Felectronic.health.records.need.better.monitoring.ut.prof.reports

The five stage proposal by Dean Sittig PhD and David Classen, M.D. is a great approach

One of the key benefits of EHR is the cost benefit that it bring about. It will be a worth-while consideration to include an ongoing CostBenfit analysis as the sixth stage (in addition to the five stages outlined by Dean Sittig and David Classen). This Sixth stage will stimulate continued innovation in EHR domain even after its implementation.
The approach can be very similar to the one that is outlined in "A cost-benefit analysis of electronic medical records in primary care" by Samuel J. Wang MD, PhD, Blackford Middleton MD, MPH, MSc et al.. The approach can be extended across various specialities and care givers. The study results estimated net benefit from using an electronic medical record for a 5-year period at $86,400 per provider. Savings primarily came from savings in drug expenditures, improved utilization of radiology tests, better capture of charges, and decreased billing errors. The one-way sensitivity analyses, identified proportion of patients as most sensitive. The magnitude of the return was dependent on several key factors.