title: Evaluation of an electronic medical record system at an opioid agonist treatment program.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Addiction Research and Treatment Corporation evaluated the impact of an electronic medical record system.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective pre- and postimplementation design was utilized that examined the domains of quality, productivity, satisfaction, risk management, and financial performance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were highly statistically significant improvements in timely completion of Annual Medical and 30-Day, 90-Day, and Annual Multidiscipline assessments. There was no statistically significant change in obtaining hepatitis C viral load for hepatitis C antibody-positive patients. The prevalence of risk management events was too low to detect statistically meaningful changes. Patient satisfaction was unchanged pre- and postimplementation, although staff satisfaction trended upward postimplementation. Productivity significantly declined for counseling staff; there was a nonsignificant productivity decline for medical services staff and a nonsignificant productivity increase for case manager staff. Revenue per capita staff increased by 0.6%, while cost per patient visit increased by 5.7%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite less robust results than expected, had we not implemented the electronic system, recent changes in documentation and reimbursement for services would have paralyzed our agency.
authors.affiliation: From the Addiction Research and Treatment Corporation, Brooklyn, NY.
authors.forename: Lawrence S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kritz
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zavala
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D057286:Electronic Health Records / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid; D008875:Middle Aged; D009519:New York City; D058850:Opiate Substitution Treatment / Q000379:methods*; D009293:Opioid-Related Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012308:Risk Management / Q000379:methods; D014481:United States