“Honestly, making the change to an EHR wasn’t something any of us looked forward to.”
In the wake of the recently enacted health care reform, the required conversion from paper recordkeeping to electronic health records (EHRs) – particularly for independent physicians or smaller clinics – has become a major concern and, for many, is viewed as a daunting task.
For one physician group, however – Family Practice Associates, based in Winner, S.D. – that anxiety was eased by experts from MMIC Health IT, who not only facilitated the change but introduced a system with features that will improve the efficiency of clinic operations and help doctors deliver patient care effectively.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services describes an EHR as “an electronic version of a patient’s medical history,” including progress notes, medications, laboratory data and other information. It notes that EHRs not only have the potential to streamline a clinician’s workflow, but can reduce the incidence of medical error by improving the accuracy and clarity of medical records.
MMIC Health IT provides a complete range of health information technology (IT) products and services, including EHR consulting and the NextGen® EHR and practice management systems.
NextGen not only met, but exceeded, the expectations of Family Practice Associates. MMIC Health IT is a value-added reseller: rather than just distributing products or systems, it customizes such systems for a specific group or clinic. Then, MMIC Health IT staff follows up with the services, training and consultation needed to support the systems.
According to MMIC Health IT Marketing Manager Kim Mosford, most large hospitals and health care systems have made the move to EHRs, but many independent physicians and smaller groups – for example, of 20 doctors or fewer – still need to implement the technology. Family Practice Associates was such a group.
A thorough review of candidates
“Looking back, I think their plan was perfect.”
“Honestly, making the change to an EHR wasn’t something any of us looked forward to,” said Dr. Teresa Marts, a physician with the group. “We were nervous our clinic could come to a grinding halt and we didn’t feel that was an option.”
The group invited proposals from many EHR vendors. Mosford said hundreds of firms provide EHR products and services. From many proposals, the clinic narrowed those under consideration to three, and finally settled on MMIC Health IT.
“In selecting a vendor, we were deliberate and careful with our process,” Marts said. “We took the time to identify the goals that were most important to us, which included better workflow, especially around phone calls and nurses’ activities, and the ability to create meaningful reports. And, we really wanted a system that was user friendly.”
Marts said one NextGen feature the physicians particularly like is the ability to access everything in the EHR from one page, including the list of medications, the record of previous visits, “just about everything.”
She admits the practice didn’t anticipate many of the benefits of implementing the EHR. “Printing off patient education materials, the well-child templates, medication lists – we didn’t know how much we would use them. But, the nurses love being able to share information such as progress notes to other clinics right after we see the patient.”
Dispelling Initial Concerns
Dr. Mary Carpenter, a physician with the group, admitted to having strong opinions about how the implementation would go. “I was pretty sure that I wanted new templates made [for example, for health and wellness information.] I was wrong about that. We use the standard templates almost exclusively and they work out great for us.
“I also had an expectation that we would implement the total EHR at once. Again, MMIC Health IT encouraged us to follow their process and implement in steps,” Carpenter said. “It was hard for me to see how it would all work once it was fully implemented. But, looking back, I think their plan was perfect.”
Carpenter was especially impressed by NextGen’s electronic prescription function. “That was definitely a success,” she said. “I also like the fact that even when I am not in the office I am able to keep track of my patients refills, labs, etc. in a real time fashion and I think that provides better care for my patients.”
“We’re not in Minneapolis so we feared the lack of a local team would be problematic,” said Dr. Marts, “but they [MMIC Health IT] were very responsive to us and continue to be. We staggered our approach so that each of us began using the system on different days. The whole process did go much smoother than we anticipated – a great unexpected success.”