Family Practice Streamlines Office Workflows and Improves Patient Care with EHR

The Issue

Cal Arundel Family Medicine is a solo private practice in Maryland specializ-ing in family medicine. Run by Dr. Stan Wisniewski and his wife, Mary Louise, the practice is dedicated to improving the lives of patients and their families by taking a holistic approach to care.

Cal Arundel Family Medicine’s story demonstrates that electronic health record (EHR) systems don’t have to be complicated to implement and learn, or force physicians to change the way they practice medicine. By adopting the right EHR system, this solo practice gained rewards that positively impact patient care and its bottom line.

Case StudyCustomer Profile:

Solo private practice

Four-member staff

Dedicated to improving the lives of patients and their families through a holistic approach to care

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Cal Arundel Family Medicine

Huntingtown, MD

http://www.calarundel.com/•••

Before overseeing his own practice, Dr. Stan Wisniewski worked in a large group practice that used paper charts. He was frustrated not only by the traditional charts, but by the fact that he often saw patients for acute visits without any chart at all. In 2006, Dr. Wisniewski and his wife, Mary Louise, began running Cal Arundel Family Medicine. As a self-proclaimed paper hater and someone who recognized the inherent benefits of utilizing a clinical information system for his practice and his patients, Dr. Wisniewski began the move to an EHR that same year. His first attempt was with a basic charting program, but he soon found the system limiting, inefficient and hard to modify or customize to his practice. This initial experience left him concerned that his practice would need to change in order to fit the con-straints of existing, out-of-the-box solutions.

Following his first experience with automated charts, Dr. Wisniewski focused on getting a new billing system up and running. Dr. Wisniewski had been using an outside billing company that required his office to prepare and send a “superbill” every day—doubling their work load. Once the new billing systems was live, he sought an EHR to complete the move to paperless and was determined, from the outset, to find a system that was simple to deploy, intuitive to use and flexible enough to adjust to the workflow of his practice (instead of the other way around).

ROIImproved ability to capture and manage patient information

Seamless monitoring of patient activity

Increased revenue due to electronic charge capture and more accurate workflow

Elimination of transcription costs; seamless integration with Dragon

Decreased equipment, space and material costs

Greater provider and office productivity

Scalable platform for adding new capabilities

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ROI:

The SolutionAfter a thorough search, Dr. Wisniewski selected Sequel Systems to help the practice make the critical move toward a comprehensive EHR.

Other vendors would have required Dr. Wisniewski to accept a basic layout or pay extra for a custom product. Sequel Systems offers a unique imple-mentation strategy characterized not by a wholesale, overnight move to a new system, but instead by a tiered or phased approach whereby users are steadily acclimated to new processes while the technology itself is custom-ized to meet the unique needs and workflow of the practice. Dr. Wisniewski and his staff worked closely with Sequel Systems to customize the EHR to their routine and workflow and to accommodate the diverse patients, com-plaints, diagnoses and treatments required on a daily basis by a family practice. Cal Arundel worked with Sequel Systems to develop customized templates and functionality designed specifically for the organization.

SequelMed EHR is an all-in-one, fully integrated solution that combines the power of practice management, document management and medical records solutions. This combination of billing, documents and imaging, and medical records helps Dr. Wisniewski capture and manage episodic and longitudinal health records information, automate and streamline the practice’s workflow, and carefully monitor patient activity from administra-tive, financial and clinical points of view.

The following five factors contributed to helping Dr. Wisniewski choose Sequel Systems:

Sequel Systems offers a unique implementation strategy characterized not by a wholesale, overnight move to a new system, but instead by a tiered or phased approach whereby users are steadily accli-mated to new processes while the technology itself is customized to meet the unique needs and workflow of the practice

Dr. Stanley Wisniewski

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In-line with workflow Meaningful training Seamless integration Affordable products Unlimited support and quick resolution of technical issues

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When a patient checks in, the practice administrator simply pulls up the patient’s record via an interactive dashboard that alerts them if a co-pay is required or a balance exists.

Today, Cal Arundel Family Medicine is live with a comprehensive EHR system supported by the practice’s own, easily maintained server. The electronic record follows the patient along the entire appointment:

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The Solution

ROI:

Starting Small

After a thorough search, AAIR selected Sequel Systems to help the practice make the critical move toward a comprehensive EHR.

Sequel Systems offers a unique implementation strategy characterized not by a wholesale, overnight move to a new system, but instead by a tiered or phased approach whereby users are steadily acclimated to new processes while the technology itself is customized to meet the unique needs and workflow of the practice.

AAIR began the automation process by adopting Sequel Systems’ practice management software. SequelMed® EPM™ (Electronic Prac-tice Management) is a scalable solution designed to help meet the complex tasks associated with managing a practice of any size. The software features a full range of functionality, including:

Sequel Systems, which had demonstrated exceptional customer service during the practice management deployment and clearly understood AAIR’s unique needs and culture, was again the right partner, and SequelMed® EHR™ was the right solution.

Dr. Peter Deane

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EMR Takes Flight at AAIR

Podcast

Automated batch processing

Extensive claim scrubbing

Automated collections and follow up

Electronic eligibility and authorization

Electronic claim submission

Comprehensive case management

Enterprise-wide reporting

Appointment scheduling

Integrated document management

Plan-specific edits and regulations

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ROI:

The ImpactCal Arundel went live with its new EHR in February 2007. Since then, Dr. Wisniewski and his staff experience a seamless process from check in through diagnosis, treatment and billing, as well as a much more complete patient record. The flexible system allows Dr. Wisniewski to continually modify the templates on the fly, delivering consistent improvements in productivity, functionality and care.

Other significant advantages and savings include:

Increased provider charges due to capturing all charges electronically Increased total office charges due to more accurate workflow Elimination of transcription costs—the system works seamlessly with Dragon Greater provider and office productivity Decreased equipment, space and material costs

Once payment is complete, the system turns the patient’s record green to notify the nurse that he or she is ready. All vital signs are automati-cally entered into the system and the patient’s chief complaint is recorded. By the time the physician enters the room, the EHR system has automatically populated the patient’s record with the appropriate template for that complaint—everything is ready to go. Additionally, all lab work is fully integrated to ensure the fastest possible time between when the lab work is ordered and when the results are available. Because physician notes, procedures and charges are fully integrated with the EHR’s billing platform, the practice can now accurately capture every charge and process each one instantly.

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About Sequel Systems, Inc.

Sequel Systems, Inc.324 South Service RoadSuite 119Melville, NY 11747T: 800.965.2728 F: 631.694.3636info@sequelmed.comwww.sequelmed.com

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Sequel Systems, Inc. is a dynamic service-oriented company that devel-ops software to simplify the complex practice and medical records manage-ment needs of healthcare providers while maximizing revenue and streamlining operations. Sequel Systems’ CCHIT-certified suite of flexible, easy-to-use and comprehen-sive SequelMed® solutions includes practice management, electronic health records, electronic medical records, document management, e-prescribing and financial systems and scales to fit the needs of the small, medium and large enterprises. Today, Sequel Systems’ solutions are in use by more than 12,000 physicians in all 50 states to provide the best possible care to patients through the use of technology.