By Kathleen Ganster
It may take a little bit of time and effort to save a lot of time and effort in the long run.
That is the issue that faces many medical providers when they begin to utilize electronic medical records programs, said James Troup, chief executive of BI Consulting, a subsidiary of Pediatric Alliance.
According to Troup, BI Consulting was formed to assist other medical practices with IT expertise in utilizing NextGen products.
“As Pediatric Alliance used the NextGen EHR/EPM System and really became experts in the application – we thought, ‘Why not offer our expertise to others?’” he said.
BI Consulting works with medical practices and facilities to assist with full cycle implementation and support, project management, workflow analysis and support. It is the change-over process that can be a bit overwhelming and time consuming at first for medical practices.
“That is where we can come in to provide IT assistance and resources to fully take advantage of the NextGen products,” Troup said.
As often the case, any change requires some training and time to transfer old systems over, but once staff is trained, the end result is worth the time said Troup.
“The change can be very disruptive to the established workflow – we may have to help adjust the training or the products to meet the needs of the practice, he explained, “but the time and training is the only way to achieve the end results.”
Another benefit of those initial efforts?
Financial savings plus increased quality of patient care.
He continued, “The goals are to increase the quality of care, improve care and to reduce costs.”
Since the products for electronic medical records are designed by software engineers, they may need adapted for the doctors and their staff who enter and utilize the data.
“We listen to the doctors and look for solutions from the physician’s perspective – we look at how the programs interface with them (the health care providers) and modify the products, not vice-versa,” said Troup, “We can adopt templates, provide staff training, monitor and upgrade usage, etc.”
Troup said BI Consulting can visit actual medical providers’ sites, provide online assistance, remote access and webinars to assist medical health care providers and their staff.
While the time that it takes for practices to adopt and implement the electronic medical records programs varies according to staff skill sets and experience, the time is worth it, said Troup.
In addition to saving time and money with electronic medical record programs, there is another incentive to utilize the systems.
“The government will provide stimulus money for those who make meaningful use of the compliance over a five-year period. So we can help ensure that practices are making ‘meaningful use’ of the programs,” he said.
Troup referred to the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) to promote implementation and meaningful use of health information technology.
But while a medical practice may use technology, it may not fit the criteria of “meaningful use,” said Troup.
“We can help identify the meaningful use criteria and help adopt electronic triggers that indicate meaningful use,” he said.
BI Consulting assists the medical healthcare provides to aligning themselves with the quality measures that are being instituted by the government.
“And that, will allow them to benefit from the stimulus money,” said Troup.
For more information, visit www.biconsultingpa.com.
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