MedInformatix' Practice Management and Electronic Medical Records Simplifies Texas Dermatology Practice's Current and Future Operations

FLOWER MOUND, Texas, Sept. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- There often comes a time when IT's forward march brings a medical practice to a crossroads, a fork in the road where both directions lead to the same destination though not equally efficiently or cost effectively. Such was the case for Flower Mound Dermatology, an 11-employee suburban Dallas practice whose administrators seven years ago recognized the importance of adding Electronic Medical Records (EMR) capabilities to its existing UNIX-based Practice Management (PM) system.

"We had used Medical Manager PCN for many years, a system that while proficient and good at what it did, was not particularly user-friendly nor inexpensive to maintain," recalled Sandra Hartt, Flower Mound's office manager. "[By 2004], they had introduced an EMR component to the system, but one that if we opted to stay with them would have required an additional $200,000 investment in third-party hardware and software, one which we were not prepared to make."

The practice—a provider of general dermatology, dermatological surgery and cosmetic procedures including Botox, chemical peels and wrinkle reduction—instead replaced the UNIX system with MedInformatix Inc.'s open architecture SQL-based Practice Management (PM) and Electronic Medical Records (EMR) solution. "We considered a number of systems, including NextGen [Healthcare]. MedInformatix wasn't only the most user-friendly, the company was also willing to customize the software specifically for a dermatology practice," Hartt said. "This was key because of the wide variety procedures and office functions we perform."

In addition to physician Dr. Isaac Perez, Flower Mound's staff includes Hartt, four medical assistants, three front-desk employees and two estheticians, each of which use MedInformatix' PM and EMR solution for billing, claims and accounts receivable. The claims function is an integrated function via MedInformatix's partnership with ZirMed, which also addresses remittance. Flower Mound sees Medicare-covered patients as well as those insured with 13 other providers.

In addition to the mentioned capabilities, the practice recently implemented MedInformatix Patient Portal Module and is preparing to leverage MedInformatix's EMR for Stage 1 Meaningful Use under The Federal Government's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for Health Information Technology.

The Practice Management system helps the practice serve 70 to 100 patients each day, not only with respect to payments and claims, but also for check-ins and, at the tap of a key, to immediately inform Flower Mound employees where patients are within the facility at any given time.

MedInformatix' PM and EMR system's ease-of-use, Hartt said, minimized the need for initial user training, with subsequent versions only requiring quick tutorials to bring users up to speed on new features and capabilities.

"Probably the greatest difference between MedInformatix' integrated system and our old way of doing things involves time saving," she said. "We used to manually prepare and mail [through the U.S. Postal Service] 200 to 300 statements each day. I can't say enough about what an upgrade the PM and EMR system is over the old way of doing things. And the system is being enhanced all of the time," Hartt said.

About MedInformatix:

MedInformatix, Inc. (www.medinformatix.com) is a leading national provider of fully integrated Electronic Health Records.  The products have been built around MedInformatix's 25 years of workflow expertise.  MedInformatix's suite of products is designed on a single database using Microsoft SQL.  Whether the client is a single physician who went live in 1994, a 13-location cardiology practice, the busiest radiology practice in Manhattan, or one of 15 other serviced specialties, MedInformatix accommodates their needs.   MedInformatix can turn the dream of a paperless, integrated practice into a reality.

MedInformatix Version 7.5 is now certified to meet 2011-2012 criteria supporting Stage 1 Meaningful Use requirements under the American Recovery and Reinvestment act (ARRA) as a Complete EHR by the Drummond Group.

This Complete EHR is 2011/2012 compliant and has been certified by an ONC-ATCB in accordance with the applicable certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This certification does not represent an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or guarantee the receipt of incentive payments."

MedInformatix, October 22, 2010, Version 7.5, 1022201024238, Clinical Quality Measures: NQF0013, NQF0421, NQF0041, NQF0024, NQF0028, NQF0038, NQF0059, NQF0061, NQF0064. Additional software used: TrueCrypt v2.0, email software, spreadsheet software.

SOURCE MedInformatix