[thejteam]

Is the time spent entering in data considered billable? If yes, then I doubt the hospital will be interested. If no, then you may be onto something.I was in a presentation not long ago at my former employer and we were being pitched a pretty cool piece of software that would probably have saved me a couple of weeks of tedious interface building. I pointed out to the VP how much time I would save. He said that we bill by the hour. I don't work there anymore.

[Agathos]

Hospitals don't bill per hour; they bill per procedure. Data entry isn't a medical procedure.

[jtfairbank]

However doctor's compensation is measured in a variety of ways depending on the hospital. Some doctors might get paid hourly or by a fuzzier metric of how much time a procedure takes, so they may not want to use this type of system. Similarly, hospitals might be able to bump up the procedure if it takes more time (ie is more involved). For example, a doctor who has to review charts and do some data entry might be able to raise a standard level II checkup to a level III one because they had to do more work. (checkup names are made up, but you get the idea)