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Dr. Jeffrey Cooper of Duluth, GA lists 13 ways EncounterPRO can help pediatricians
1. Instantly calculates drug dosages based on weight
2. Instantly plots growth charts
3. Integrated with Barton Schmitt Protocols
4. Improves vaccine coverage rates by reducing missed opportunities; reporting allows for precall/recall for vaccines
5. Allows for documentation of developmental milestones at well and/or sick visits.
6. Therapy screens can be supplemented and/or permanently altered "on the fly"
7. Updates to various standards (such as growth charts) are applied to all historical data, thus picking up new "abnormalities" without having to review and replot every single measurement in every chart
8. Drug/Vaccine* recalls are easily reportable so that appropriate interventions can be made
Ex: Vaccine recall in 1999.*
Ex: Drug discontinued by FDA. Patients were recalled and drug was changed.
9. Patient tracking prevents "losing" a patient or message in the system
10. Messaging allows for "delaying" a procedure
Ex: I can send myself a message to call a patient in two days to check on his/her progress.
11. "To Do" lists allows for easy supervision of physician extenders
12. Office view allows the provider to maximize the use of his time by prioritizing workflow based on time waiting or pending labs
13. Alerts provide for communication to colleagues outside of the medical record about special problems .
Ex: "Duplicate Name Alert"
Ex: "Child participating in Emory Study on new vaccine X"
Ex: "Last bill was returned, Please get new address and phone number."
Dr. Armand Gonzalzles of Chicago sends a letter to his fellow pediatricians
Hi,
After 27 years of Pediatric practice, EncounterPRO is the greatest addition I have ever made to my practice. Since 1981 I have used computers in my office. I started with an old Sony computer for billing. The software at that time was very complicated and glitches were common. Updates were rare and managed care was not an issue. Nine years later I joined a multi-specialty group practice.
The group evaluated many EMR systems from 1990 thru 1995. We were using a unix system for appointments, billing , financials, and posting collections. The Unix system was part of a multi-network hospital based alliance. We were not using the system for patient medical information or patient records. We were still using paper charts and either dictating or manually entering each encounter in the chart. Plotting growth and manually filling out vaccine and Denver developmentals. Mistakes were made, charts were lost or misplaced, hand writing was at times hard to read, and there was a physical fatigue factor limiting the number of patients per day one could see.
In 1995 the multi-specialty group disbanded as a result of managed care and income limitations. We were now only Pediatrics and there were three of us. We used the same system for billing and collections but still nothing for medical records. In 1999 I went solo again and while at a meeting in New Orleans saw EncounterPRO. In the past I had seen many different electronic medical record systems, but none as user friendly, complete, or as customizable as JMJ's EncounterPRO.
In January 2000 the system was installed. My office was networked, with touch screen monitors in four exam rooms as well as the nursing area for inputting chief complaints and vital signs. EncounterPRO was linked to my Lytec billing software thru an interface called Xlink. This made it possible to see patients and either electronically bill or paper snail mail bill the same day. My turn around time for reimbursement went from months and coding errors to weeks and no coding errors. Managed care audits went from 80 % compliance to 95% compliance or better. My reimbursements increased from a meager 65% to a robust 85-90%.
As a group Pediatric practice we would see 400 to 600 patients per month. I can see 600 - 800 patients per month solo as a result of EncounterPRO, and I am not exhausted. This system has once again made patient in office encounters fun and efficient. Their are no errors and I have more time to interact with the patient. The growth charts, developments , vaccines, anticipatory guidance, safety, and nutritional advice are part of each routine visit without the constraints of time and fatigue interfering. Prescriptions are printed out legibly which has done away with errors or trying to recall allergic contraindications. Follow-up visits are scheduled and interoffice
messaging is a breeze.
I don't use the dictation unit of EncounterPRO as I see no need for it. I am working more efficiently and smarter then ever before. You have to see this to understand the benefits that EncounterPRO can bring to your practice and staff .
Dr. Armand Gonzalzles
February 27, 2002
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