BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Even $58,000 in federal incentives could not overcome some local physicians’ skepticism about the cost of converting to electronic health records or being stuck with a “Betamax” system.

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator Kerry Weems came to Baltimore Thursday as part of a nationwide drive to promote electronic

health records.

We’ve been looking at electronic health records for the last five years,”

said Sally Seiler, CEO of the Neurology Center in Washington and Maryland. “If there’s no paper record and you have an electronic snafu, there’s no exit strategy. ... Then there are considerable

IT costs.”

She said they are “enamored” of the idea of keeping patients’ appointments, medications, X-rays and other records in a secure database. But the logistical problems - such as selecting a vendor that doesn’t pan out in the long run - are daunting. The Neurology Center estimated the cost at $50,000 to switch over to electronic records, she said. That doesn’t count training costs.

The CMS is recruiting 12 communities to participate in a five-year trial of patient medical records. Individual doctors could recoup $58,000 and group practices could get as much as $290,000 if they institute electronic health record systems and manage to improve the quality of care

they provide.

There are 90 vendors of electronic record-keeping systems with the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology seal of approval, Weems said. That ensures that they meet criteria for information security, interoperability and functionality.

It can be a tough sell, he said. The systems are designed to eliminate redundant testing, drug complications and medical error that can put someone in the hospital.

“The primary investor, the physician’s office, doesn’t necessarily benefit by fewer hospitalizations of their patients, but the health system does,” he said. “We know the electronic health records can save money, can improve hospital outcomes through better care and less duplicative tests and eliminate some invasive tests.”

Additional incentives from state or local governments, employers or insurance companies may “help sweeten the pot,” he said.

Dr. Ronald Sroka, president elect of the Maryland physicians’ association MedChi, and a solo practitioner, remained skeptical. “Even if a physician’s office realizes the full five-year benefit [from CMS] it would not offset the cost.”

khille@baltimoreexaminer.com