Dr. Kevin Napier, an internist in a nine-physician family and internal medicine practice in Griffin, Ga., said that he and his colleagues had spent $400,000 for the purchase of a system and subsequent training since 2005.
The physicians are financing the system at a cost of $1,000 a month each, and their payments will continue for the next 3 years, he said.
There was a huge drop in patient volume and income the first year of implementation, but the benefits have outweighed the risks, Dr. Napier said.