Medical Group Management Association
Image: mgma.com
An anesthesiologist with over 35 years of experience, Dr. Richard Epstein most recently treated patients as a staff anesthesiologist with American Anesthesia in Towson, Maryland. Alongside his day-to-day professional activities, Dr. Richard Epstein pursues an interest in politics, history, and the economics of health care.
According to a recent study conducted by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), physicians spend more than $32,500 per year on health care information technology. The average annual costs associated with health care IT include over $9,400 for IT support staff salaries and more than $23,100 for equipment purchase, maintenance, and accessories.
Between 2009 and 2015, costs for IT rose by over 40 percent as doctors adopted new technologies to improve their practices and keep current in their fields. With government policies concerning health records tightening and more patients coming to expect online patient portals, many industry experts believe that health care IT costs will continue to grow, making it difficult for some physicians to remain in private practice.
