Dr. Setters operates a Family Practice with an office
manager, nurse and receptionist. He runs SpringCharts
and Lytec on Windows XP and NDC Medical Connect
on a Windows XP client. He has Windows XP workstations
for his staff, his office, and for each of his exam rooms.
The exam rooms have their PCs built into the counters
with a wireless keyboard, wireless mouse, and a flat panel
LCD monitor on the counter.
"Two things caused me to go to electronic medical
records: ready access to key patient data, and intra-office
communication.
Intra-office communication: the "ant trail"
"Even though it is called a charting program, SpringCharts'
strongest point may be how well its communications features
facilitate office workflow. For example, SpringCharts
virtually eliminates what I call the 'ant trail'.
"Handling a prescription renewal is a case in point.
Prior to SpringCharts, prescription renewals required
a nine-step process. The receptionist took the call. The
receptionist pulled the chart. The receptionist put a
sticky note on the chart with the patient's request and
put the chart on my desk. I reviewed the chart and decided
the course of action…to renew, change dosage, ask the
patient to come in, etc. I then wrote instructions to
my nurse and attached them to the chart. The chart was
then put at the nurse's station. The nurse then called
the pharmacy and/or the patient. The nurse then charted
the activity. The chart was then returned to the filing
cabinet.
"With SpringCharts, the receptionist takes the call,
and sends me a message with the Patient Chart attached.
I make my decision, and, if appropriate, fax the prescription
renewal with a couple of mouse clicks, and reply to the
receptionist's message with the response she is to give
the patient.
"With Spring Charts there is no "ant trail".
There is no chart movement, there is no nurse involvement,
there are no lost charts, there is never a pile of charts
on my desk and all activity is automatically charted.
I easily handle most renewals between patients.
"More generally, the messaging, instant messaging
and reminder features of SpringCharts EHR are indispensable
to the management of my practice, allowing me to run my
practice from the exam room and improve patient care with
minimal staff.
Data access: improved productivity and patient care
"On another dimension, the reporting capabilities
of SpringCharts substantially improve my productivity
and the quality of care I can give my patients.
"When I see a patient, I have instant access to
an accurate medication list and a complete problem list
and diagnosis history. I can also easily view lab and
procedure summaries and visit details. This is a major
improvement over charting I have seen in practices which
rely on the manual maintenance of "face sheets"
and the diligence of very busy people to log medication
activity.
"The ease of charting helps me make the data in
SpringCharts quite complete. Importantly, the result is
an easily accessible medical history which very significantly
improves the quality of care I give my patients.
"I looked at a number of charting systems before
selecting SpringCharts. Most were too simplistic and only
offered progress notes or were bloated with features that
made them tedious and costly. I found SpringCharts had
the right combination of rapid documentation, easy access
to patient history, and intra-practice communication and
management tools."
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