1. Cost Comparison of an On-Premise IT Solution with a Cloud-Based Solution for Electronic Health Records in a Dental School Clinic
- Author
-
Lynn A. Johnson, Madhan Balasubramanian, Cassandra Callaghan, Heiko Spallek, and Haris Haq
- Subjects
Data Analysis ,Michigan ,020205 medical informatics ,Computer science ,Cost-Benefit Analysis ,Cloud computing ,02 engineering and technology ,Health records ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Cost Savings ,0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering ,Electronic Health Records ,Humans ,Operations management ,Grading (education) ,Education, Dental ,Cost–benefit analysis ,Cost comparison ,business.industry ,Dental Clinics ,030206 dentistry ,General Medicine ,Cloud Computing ,Total cost of ownership ,Organizational Innovation ,Premise ,Schools, Dental ,Reduced cost ,business - Abstract
Electronic health records (EHRs) are increasingly moving towards cloud-based web environments. While cloud-based EHRs claim substantial benefits at reduced cost, little cost-benefit research exists for dental schools. The aim of this study was to examine the cost-benefits of a cloud-based EHR compared to an on-premise client-server EHR in the University of Michigan School of Dentistry (U-M Dent). Data were collected in 2016 from the U-M Dent cost-benefit comparison of tangible and intangible factors associated with implementing a new EHR, using the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) framework from EDUCAUSE. The TCO framework assessed three factors: foundational (overarching aspects: three items), qualitative (intangibles: 56 items), and quantitative (actual costs). Stakeholders performed factor grading, and relative assessment scores were derived for each item as well as the overall factor. The cloud-based EHR solution received higher foundational and qualitative factor summary scores. The overall cost of an on-premise solution over a two-year period was approximately $2,000,000 higher than a cloud-based solution. Cloud solutions did not carry any hidden costs, while such costs accounted for 8% (~$540,000) of the overall costs of the on-premise solution. Across the two-year period, both one-time and ongoing costs were higher for the on-premise solution than the cloud-based solution (by 40.5% and 20.5%, respectively). This study found that a cloud-based EHR system in the U-M Dent offered significant cost savings and unique benefits that were not available with the on-premise EHR solution. Based on cost, the U-M Dent has made a case for cloud-based EHR systems.
- Published
- 2019