Hospitals face budget woes with switch to electronic records

Brigham and Women's Hospital has posted its first budget shortfall in over 15 years, hospital president Dr. Betsy Nabel announced at a recent town hall-style meeting. To blame, in part, was the expense of switching to new electronic health records, a cost that has led to overruns at a number of hospitals in recent years. The hospital fell $53 million short of its budget in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, in large part due to unexpected costs associated with switching to electronic health records in June, according to hospital spokeswoman Erin McDonough.