Starting Out Right.

A new practice has one major advantage over others: it gets to start out life with no baggage. That's what Dr. Todd Cohen and Dr. Robert Waterhouse discovered last November when they opened their doors as Piedmont Urology Associates in Gastonia, NC.

In previous positions at hospitals, both physicians had used paper records. "We were a start-up and felt we'd need to have a good EMR system that could be integrated with billing. Ease of use was critical and documentation was important because the biggest factor in getting reimbursement is documentation. We figured we'd bite the bullet and pay the money now and avoid the whole business of transitioning from paper," Cohen says.

The practice manager, an accountant who manages 40 practices in the area, coordinated the search for a practice management/electronic medical records solution. He short-listed to four products for the practice to try, and eventually chose Companion Technologies' MedicWare (for EMRs) integrated with MegaWest (for practice management).

"I liked the integration of the two systems," Cohen says. "Demographics from the practice management system get put in the medical record so there's no duplication. The basics of the EMR system were good, and I could tinker with a template and make it the way I wanted to use it. I can even do it on the fly, sitting right in front of a patient."

Piedmont Urology spent about $70,000 for the licenses to use the software, one server for billing, another for EMRs, two laptops, one computer and scanner for the nurses' station, three office computers, two pen pad devices to use with patient exams, and wiring for network and wireless technology. The physicians estimate savings from not needing transcription services to be $7,000 to $10,000 per doctor per year and expect to recover their investment in about four years. That's without figuring staff time saved in maintaining a traditional paper-based system, which should be considerable.

"All practices should be considering the use of practice management and medical record automation," Cohen says. "Getting systems that are integrated is certainly a plus. When I finish a chart, I've put in CPT codes that transfer to billing codes. There's no duplication of work. You just push a button to submit a bill."

Craig Klein is vice president/chief marketing officer of Companion Technologies of Columbia, SC. Contact him at 800-717-2517 Ext. 43330.