How to Convince Your Physician Owners of the Benefits of EHR for ASCs

Electronic health records (EHRs) are finally making themselves a must-have in the Ambulatory Surgery setting. However, convincing some physician owners of the value of this change is not always a walk in the park. We often encounter scenarios where clinical staff, business office managers, and other stakeholders are ready to switch from paper to electronic charting, but their owners are saying no.

Today, with over 90% of U.S. hospitals and 78% of physician practices already using an EHR system, the question is no longer if you should switch, but why wait?

This guide will help you highlight the EHR benefits and show why switching to EHR is essential for the future of your ASC.

Step-by-Step Guide to Switching from Paper Charts to EHR in ASCs

Switching to EHR may seem overwhelming at first, but the process can be broken down into clear, manageable steps. This guide will help you understand how to address physician-owner concerns and why switching from paper charts to EHR is essential for Ambulatory Surgery Centers. When you follow these steps, you can make a strong case for adoption and ensure a smoother transition that highlights both the clinical and financial benefits of the EHR.

Step 1: Gain a Full-Picture View of Your Physician Owner’s Concerns

Understanding where they’re coming from is going to be essential. What are their main concerns? More often than not, it comes down to cost, but are there other reasons? Take detailed notes to help you stay organized and focused.

When gathering feedback from your physician-owners, expect to hear concerns that have been circulating in the ASC industry for years, including the lack of a federal mandate, physician resistance, and the fear that rebuilding charts will take too much time. The good news is that each of these obstacles has been largely resolved. Modern EHRs are explicitly built for ASCs, offer measurable ROI, reduce staffing burdens, and streamline compliance. With proper training and vendor support, most of the frustrations that once made physicians skeptical have been replaced by efficiency, accessibility, and improved workflows.

According to a recent KLAS Research report, most ASC leaders who delayed implementing an EHR cited cost as the primary concern. However, nearly all of them reported regret when facing increased payer and registry reporting requirements that paper-based systems could not meet, so that is your starting point.

Step 2: Gauge Internal Interest

Discuss with your clinical team and others who would be using an EHR day in and day out. Are they on board as well? What concerns do they have? Do any of them have EHR experience?

Why this matters: Staff who have worked in hospital systems or clinics are already familiar with EHR system benefits, such as faster chart retrieval, clinical alerts, and automated coding support. Their input can reassure physician-owners that the transition is manageable.

Step 3: Engage Trusted EHR Vendors to Help You

The ASC industry has several different EHR options. They all vary slightly in terms of features and functionality, but what shouldn’t vary is their willingness to help you present your case to your physician owners.

In 2025, many vendors will provide:

• ROI calculators tailored to ASC settings
• On-site training programs with short learning curves
• Cloud-based solutions with lower upfront costs

This makes switching to EHR more affordable and less disruptive than it was even five years ago.

Step 4: Do Your Research and Prepare a Presentation

Now that you have a bulleted list of what’s holding them back, it’s time to create a clear and concise presentation addressing every concern. Speak their language and stay focused on everyone’s end goal – improving the bottom line, workflow efficiencies, and patient care.

How to Prepare a Strong EHR Presentation for Physician-Owners

To make your case for switching to EHR, follow these proven strategies:

1. Organize concerns into themes – Break down objections into categories like cost, workflow disruption, or staff training. This ensures your presentation is structured and focused.
2. Show the numbers – For example, clinics using EHRs save significant amounts per patient visit in administrative costs compared to paper charting. Demonstrating measurable EHR system benefits makes the case stronger.
3. Create side-by-side comparisons – Develop a simple chart comparing paper charts vs. EHR benefits. Highlight areas like:

• • Storage costs
  • Time to retrieve records
  • Compliance risks
  • Patient safety outcomes

4. Use case studies – Share stories of other healthcare facilities that successfully switched.
5. Highlight ROI and market trends – Show that switching from paper charts to EHR positions your ASC to compete. With most nationwide ASCs already using some form of EHR, physician-owners don’t want to be left behind.
6. Frame benefits in terms of owner priorities – Physician-owners often prioritize profitability, efficiency, and reputation. Phrase the benefits of EHR as answers to these priorities:

• • Profitability → reduced costs and faster billing
  • Efficiency → less staff time wasted
  • Reputation → attracting patients and providers looking for modernized care

If you approach the conversation in this way, you’re presenting “why switch to EHR” in a way that highlights profitability increases. Moreover, it shows them how it directly benefits their ASC today and in the future.

Here Are a Few Talking Points about EHR Benefits to Help You Succeed

Once you’ve researched, gathered feedback, and prepared your presentation, the next step is communicating your case effectively. The talking points below will help answer the most common objections physician-owners raise and highlight the clear EHR system benefits. These points also align with the demands of patients, payers, and regulators today, making the transition to EHR a necessity.

What are the main advantages of EHR systems for ASCs?

Key EHR system benefits include:

• Faster, more accurate charting
• Reduced storage and staffing costs
• Improved patient safety and outcomes
• Easier compliance with payer and regulatory reporting
• Stronger recruitment and retention of staff and patients

What are the challenges or disadvantages of using EHRs in ASCs?

While the benefits of EHRs are clear, there are challenges that ASCs must address. Implementation can require upfront investment, staff training, and workflow adjustments. Some physicians initially worry about a slowdown in productivity during the learning curve. Cybersecurity is another concern, as protecting sensitive patient data requires strong security protocols and ongoing monitoring. If not correctly configured, EHRs can also create risks such as alert fatigue or documentation errors. However, with the right vendor, training, and compliance practices, these challenges can be mitigated, allowing ASCs to maximize the advantages while protecting patient safety and privacy.

Do electronic health records help reduce medical errors?

EHR systems significantly lower the risk of mistakes in documentation, medication orders, and communication between providers. Features like automated alerts for allergies, drug interactions, and incomplete charts help clinicians make safer, more accurate decisions. In ASCs, this translates into fewer preventable errors and a higher standard of patient care.

How does an EHR system actually work in an ASC?

If they ask you this question, prepare a concise yet detailed response.

An electronic health record works by digitizing all aspects of patient charting, documentation, and reporting. Instead of storing paper files, information is entered directly into a secure, cloud-based, or on-premise system that organizes data in structured formats. This allows staff to retrieve records instantly, physicians to access charts remotely, and administrators to generate reports for payers or regulators. In an ASC, EHRs streamline scheduling, pre-op documentation, intra-op notes, and post-op reporting, reducing errors and saving staff time.

How Paper Charts Limit Patient Care vs. the Benefits of EHR

One of the strongest arguments for switching from paper charts to EHR is the direct impact on patient care. Paper records, while familiar, create bottlenecks and risks that ASCs can no longer afford.

• The handwriting is often illegible.
• It cannot be electronically shared or stored.
• It is not structured data that is computable and shareable with other computers and systems.
• Paper is expensive to copy, transport, and store, easy to destroy, challenging to analyze and determine who has seen it, and harms the environment.

How does this play in the often short-term care environment of an ASC? All of the above elements are equally important in the ASC world. A few years ago, sharing data was not as significant an issue as it is today. State and federal agencies, specialty registries, and payers require data on the cases you perform. Additionally, as more procedures transition to the ASC space, this trend is expected to grow exponentially.

The relatively recent healthcare model of outcome-based payment has new reasons to embrace technology to aggregate and report results to receive reimbursement. It is easier to retrieve and track patient data using an EHR and patient registries than labor-intensive paper chart reviews. EHRs are much better organized than paper charts, allowing faster data retrieval. Pages may be missing even when the chart is available.

In short, paper records are obstacles to compliance, safety, and quality. By contrast, the benefits of EHR systems include structured, shareable data that supports better care coordination, more accurate reporting, and higher patient satisfaction.

Human Capital Is Your Biggest Line Item, and Paper Charting Is a Full-Time Job

Another point to stress when making your case is labor efficiency. Managing paper charts consumes staff time and payroll, often requiring dedicated employees whose sole job is handling paper. That’s an expensive way to run a modern surgical center.

Managing patient charts via paper is becoming a full-time job. It wastes salaries and, more importantly, employees who could be used for patient care. Almost every industry is computerized and digitized for rapid data retrieval and trend analysis. Why would they want their center to be left out of this loop?

Physician-owners care about efficiency and staffing costs. Show them how switching to EHR can reallocate human capital to higher-value activities, increasing both patient throughput and staff satisfaction while reducing burnout.

The ROI for Implementing an EHR Is Real and Trackable

Perhaps the most convincing argument for physician-owners is the financial one. The benefits of EHR adoption are measurable, and they’re improving year over year as technology becomes more accessible and regulations become more data-driven.

Believe it or not, it is not the actual outlay of money for the software. The return on investment for implementing an EHR made for ASCs is ever-improving. Where else in this explosive industry can you gain:

• Convenience and efficiency
• Fewer storage costs and demands
• Organized and referenced data
• Improved security and compliance
• Improved patient safety and quality outcomes
• Reporting and quality outcome requirements
• Assist in recruiting young people to your center
• Allow for patient engagement with patient access simplified
• Increase market share as more providers and patients choose your ASC

ROI is not just about dollars saved; it’s about opportunities gained. From compliance to patient safety to staff recruitment, switching to EHR future-proofs your ASC. You should present ROI as a financial safeguard and also a competitive advantage in a crowded market.

I Will Leave You with This Thought on the Benefits of EHR…

EMRs are for everyone in the ASC space. Our culture, payments, and future revolve around data. Going digital is no longer about cost, as it is too costly to go without. The conversion process isn’t always easy, but it can be surprisingly simplified with the right software partner. Acquiring new skills might be frustrating, but now that so many providers use EHRs in hospitals and clinic environments, the skills are there to tap into.

Transitioning to an EHR system has improved the quality of care and outcomes, reduced overhead, and increased job satisfaction. You can’t always convince your physician owner to let go of paper records, but you can share your thoughts and encourage them to do so. If you do, they will be glad they joined your many colleagues on the high-speed road ASCs are creating for the future of healthcare.

Frequently Asked Questions About Switching to EHR in ASCs

Switching from paper charts to electronic health records is a major step for Ambulatory Surgery Centers, and it’s common for physician-owners and staff to have questions before making the leap. To help, we’ve compiled answers to the most frequently asked questions about switching to an EHR. These FAQs are designed to clarify misconceptions, highlight the genuine benefits of EHR systems, and demonstrate why now is the ideal time for ASCs to transition to digital.

Why should Ambulatory Surgery Centers switch from paper charts to EHR?

Switching to EHR improves efficiency, reduces errors, and helps ASCs meet reporting requirements. Paper charts are costly to store, easy to lose, and difficult to analyze, while EHR systems offer structured, shareable data that supports better patient care and compliance.

How much does it cost to implement an EHR in an ASC?

Costs vary depending on the vendor and system features. Many ASCs now choose cloud-based solutions with lower upfront costs. While an initial investment is required, most centers see ROI within 12–18 months through reduced staffing needs, fewer errors, and faster reimbursements. For a deeper look at potential savings and long-term value, consider using this ROI calculator to model how an EHR system could impact your specific ASC.

Will switching to an EHR disrupt ASC operations?

There may be a short adjustment period, but modern vendors provide on-site training, user-friendly platforms, and support during go-live. Most ASCs fully adapt within a few weeks, and staff quickly recognize the long-term benefits.

How do EHRs help with reporting and compliance?

EHRs allow ASCs to generate accurate, real-time reports required by payers, state agencies, and specialty registries. This makes it easier to participate in outcome-based payment models and avoid penalties associated with incomplete or missing data.