Navigation

Internal Medicine Associates

SOURCE: Haywood N. Hill, M.D. Carolina Internal Medicine Associates 445 Biltmore Center, Suite 407 Asheville, NC 28801 Fax: (704) 258-3390 E-mail: hhill@circle.net

PROBLEM: At Carolina Internal Medicine Associates a great deal of time was spent in non-productive tasks such as recording redundant data, looking for paper charts, searching for specific information, dictating and transcribing. The physicians in the practice were handwriting and dictating the majority of patient information. Front office staff and medical records personnel often launched chart searches for misfiled or misplaced charts. This needlessly delayed patient services or interrupted patient care. It also impeded the smooth flow of the staff's day-to-day tasks.

SOLUTION: Using AutoChart, a clinical application from Medic Computer Systems which automates a variety of health care practice tasks, our patient information and records have become considerably more accurate and significantly easier to retrieve. It has facilitated data entry to the point that chart notes can often be completed at the point of service in the exam room. It simplifies workflow and practice administration, and it meets the clinical information needs of our practice, making all patient data available as needed throughout the organization.

PLANNING: For approximately two months we looked at a number of vendor products--gathering information, considering product demos, and analyzing quotes. After a thorough vendor review including a site visit, we selected Medic Computer Systems Inc., which offered the most robust, fully integrated solution to our problem. Prom the onset of our search for a technology solution to implementation spanned about a six-month time period.

COMPONENTS:

* Hardware: IBM RS/6000; AIX servers with PC workstations and wireless pen-based units

* Software: Medic's AutoChart

* Networks: IBM RS/6000 AIX and MicroSoft NT

* Training: A two-day course at one of Medic's regional training centers and on-site training by Medic staff for several days before system went live.

COST: The base product, tailored to meet our practice needs, cost $30,000-40,000. With the current upgrades, the system expenditure is approximately $100,000.

STAFF, PATIENTS SERVED: All thirty members of Carolina Internal Medicine Associates, including seven physicians, two nurse practitioners, nurses and ancillary staff, have either PC access to the system or use the portable, pen-based units daily. Our patient base is more than 25,000, and all patients active since 1993 have records included in the system.

BENEFITS:

* Productivity: All providers have increased the number of patient visits per day, seeing an average of three or four patients more per physician. Reduced dictation time represents one to one-and-a-half hours per day per physician, and transcription time has been cut by one third to one half. Since implementing AutoChart, Carolina Internal Medicine has added two physicians to its staff, but no additional front office staff was needed, despite the increased patient flow. We have now drastically reduced transcription time since our physicians use the portable, pen-based units to capture patient data at the point-of-care.

* Patient care or service: There has been a definitive improvement in the accuracy of patient records, with fewer transcription errors. We can electronically transfer information to specialists' offices, eliminating the need for making copies of old, handwritten notes.

ENHANCEMENTS: We are planning to move to a full implementation of Medic's Windows version of point-of-care data entry, streamlining the entire process of patient record management. We expect a "quantum leap" in efficiency with this latest clinical application from Medic since many routine tasks will now be generated with a single key stroke, routing data as needed rather than requiring redundant entries. Updating charts or locating critical patient information will take only seconds and can be accessed from any authorized computer in the practice.

ANECDOTE: A comatose patient was rushed to an out-of-state hospital emergency room. After searching her wallet for identification, the ER nurse found an appointment card from Carolina Internal Medicine and called us. A covering physician responded to the initial call. Using his home PC, the doctor was able to access and transfer the woman's complete medical history to the emergency room in less than five minutes.

COPYRIGHT 1997 Nelson Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group