Oct 23 2009
Patients of a Premier Midwestern Surgical Practice Benefit from This Partnership; Results Are Greater Convenience, Quality of Care Paired with Exceptional Claims and Billing Efficiency
Excellent vision is what Talley Eye Care is all about. But even by this Indiana-based clinic's high standards, the reasons it chose MedInformatix a decade ago as its Practice Management/EMR software provider are as obvious as the "E" atop a vision chart.
"Talley Eye Care evaluated at least a dozen different software alternatives. No one had the combination of features, flexibility, and understanding of the ophthalmic surgery segment that MedInformatix offered," said Sam Byers, practice administrator for Talley Eye Care. "We knew MedInformatix was the right solution in 1999, and it has been ever since."
Talley Eye Care is an asset to the tri-state region of Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, bringing state-of-the-art cataract, refractive, glaucoma, corneal, retinal and vitreous surgery to thousands of patients each year. The practice, led by founder Dr. Terry W. Talley, M.D., performs procedures at roughly a dozen locations in the region. Valley Surgery Center, located in Evansville, Indiana, is home base for the practice's six surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, technicians and support staff.
Ten years after selecting MedInformatix's Enterprise Practice Management (EPM) application and eight years after adding MedInformatix Electronic Medical Records (EMR), the systems continue to add value. Michael Lockard, former practice administrator, recalls the efficiencies created for Talley's clinical and administrative staff, as well as for its patients.
"In 1999 the practice was just Dr. Talley, Dr Grant, and Dr Hughes. Yet today, with three more surgeons and two more optometrists, Talley Eye Care is able to handle the increased patient load with essentially the same administrative staff. That's a tribute to the power of MedInformatix EMR and EPM," Lockard states. "For example, before we had our MedInformatix system, patients who came to our satellite locations had to wait a day to schedule appointments because our appointment book had to stay at the main office. With MedInformatix EPM, appointments can be scheduled from any location with Internet access."
MedInformatix' all-digital, EPM and EMR platforms help the surgeons as well, notes Byers. "Instead of wasting time with paper documents, the doctors can sign off on patient exams and other files electronically. It shortens their routine at the end of the day. In fact, they can even complete unfinished jobs at home by logging in to the clinic's secure system," he says.
Byers points to his ability to easily review collection reports daily, drilling down when necessary to the specifics of a particular account or procedure. "At Talley we use a combination of Crystal Reports and MedReports for data analysis. With MedInformatix we are able to gain immediate access to a wide range of key performance indicators and clinical benchmarks. MedInformatix also has the ability to provide many different types of outcomes analysis built specifically for ophthalmology, which is important for optimizing our clinic."
Another benefit of MedInformatix, Byers states, is its ability to keep claim denials far below the national average. "Our denials run roughly 1% of our total claims, which is remarkable. I can attribute a lot of that to our certified coder, who is very highly trained," Byers states. "But MedInformatix also has a claims scrubbing capability that checks routine information like account numbers, addresses, etc. before the claim is submitted. It recognizes the appropriate diagnosis codes for various procedures and warns if it sees any errors. That helps our coder be even more efficient."
MedInformatix' EMR, which was developed using the company's practice management system, has many advanced features to improve patient care. "Last year we began taking photos of our patients and including them in their medical record," Byers notes. "It gives us greater security and peace-of-mind if clinicians can see they have the right patient and the right chart, just by looking at the photo," he said.
Lockard and Byers also commented on the variety of ways MedInformatix EMR and EPM can track and improve workflow issues. By automatically logging time and date information for patient interaction ranging from first phone call to discharge, MedInformatix lets Talley Eye Care scrutinize the flow of patients and react to various time study issues. It can assure that all clinic personnel, from front desk to physicians, are doing their best to ensure that patients are seen in a timely manner.
Ten years after beginning its relationship with MedInformatix, Talley Eye Care is still finding new ways to leverage its MedInformatix system to improve patient care. "In the next couple of months our physicians will have tablet PCs they can carry with them to enter their exam notes, issue instructions and even draw diagrams on the go," says Byers. "It's just one more way MedInformatix is helping to make us more productive."
Source: http://www.medinformatix.com/