The decision was made to look for a digital chart solution.  "Construction costs aside, it didn't make sense to invest more money, energy and time trying to manage paper charts.  Accessing them was slowing us down and becoming increasingly difficult. We needed to modernize.  To be successful, a new system had to be flexible enough for all providers to use without slowing them down and easy enough for everyone to learn quickly."

SRS presented the only viable option for AOC.  Unlike structured data-entry EMRs, which frustrate physicians by requiring them to input clinical data at the point of care, SRS captures the providers' notes in the manner they are most accustomed to creating them.  "SRS gave us the flexibility we needed," says Elliott.  "For example, the surgeons continue to dictate and the therapists now fill out their worksheets directly on tablets.  Since the system looks like a paper chart, the staff didn't have trouble adjusting.  SRS had something for everyone.  We knew it would work. It was so easy that I sent the SRS trainer home early."

AOC began by scanning in their paper charts.  Advanced routing tools quickly made their paperless goal a reality.  Soon after the implementation, AOC realized additional benefits.  SRS Chart Manager not only better manages patient information, but also impacts the workflow of the entire practice and generates considerable cost savings.  "We can point directly to at least $800,000 in cost reductions over a five-year period," Mr. Elliott explains.  "With SRS, every employee in the practice is far more efficient.  We've grown considerably without adding to our payroll.  Being paperless has freed two full-time and three part-time employees for deployment to other growing areas of our business and has saved us about 20 hours a week in overtime pay."

Charting expenses were eliminated, and there were tangible cost savings in other areas, too. AOC moved into their new facility without a chart room, saving $72,000 per year in real estate expenses. With the extra square footage, they expanded their physical therapy department and brought MRI services in-house.

"Not only are we saving money," Elliott adds, "but we can get information for a patient or a referring physician within seconds. You just can't put a price on that." What was once slow, cumbersome and costly is now streamlined, easy and affordable at AOC. "Of course we would do it again," concludes Mr. Elliott.