The struggle to have medical records where and when they were needed, as well as the operational inefficiencies that resulted, were symptoms of the practice’s aging infrastructure and a clinical document management solution delivered the cure.  With a moderate investment, we satisfied our medical record issues with our purchase and, more importantly, our physicians appreciated the ease of implementation and minimal training required.  It was a sound, fiscally prudent decision that easily paid for itself.

Going from paper-based to paperless yielded other significant benefits.  Since our office runs more smoothly, payroll was reduced by three full-time employees—saving the practice $105,000 annually.  Chart supply cuts generate an additional $3,000 per year in savings.

Another benefit came from having 24/7/365 access to patient charts.  Our cardiologists receive many routine patient calls daily with a variety of questions regarding medications, symptoms and treatments.  One of the most valuable aspects of installing the new software solution is its capability to match each call to the patient’s chart and to send a message directly to the appropriate physician’s desktop computer in real time.

Our biggest surprise was the positive impact on physician time.  Workflow efficiencies help our physicians to stay current with their messages at home, hospital or office.  Callbacks are generally made on the same day, not a day or two later.  This is a key benefit that directly improves patient care.

Since some of our physicians prefer to respond to patient callbacks during hospital downtime or at their leisure at home, they have increased patient volume during work hours and have reduced their time at the office after hours.

With immediate access to charts from anywhere, we have not only enhanced patient care, but also improved service to our referring doctors because return calls are quick and accurate—with full documentation readily available.