When Dr Nazareth used paper charts he saw an average of 8 patients a day. With EMR in place he is far more efficient because he no longer has to dictate long notes. He can cut and paste past notes and add new lines, this saves time and he no longer has to redo past work. Using Medisoft Clinical he averages seeing 12 patients a day.
Previously Dr Nazareth used a transcriptionist and paid about $3,500 a month (he saves $42,000 a year by no longer using a transcriptionist!). In addition to saving money he saves time and is more efficient. Now he can dictate a report immediately after seeing a patient and he can send the report the same day. He is no longer dependant on the transcriptionist and has a much faster turn around.
Dr Nazareth sends prescriptions electronically (eRx). He is able to send the prescription to the pharmacy while he is still with the patient. He no longer has to flip through a chart or write out prescriptions. Just a few clicks to do a prescription saves a lot of time.
Eisenhower Medical Center recommends Practice Partner, Medisoft Clinical and Lytec MD to all affiliated physicians. This support of EMC has been a huge help in deciding which EMR to choose. On his own Dr Nazareth would not know which EMR to pick. Eisenhower also recommends using AZCOMP for installation, implementation, training, support and all EMR needs. Dr Nazareth does not have to worry about battling between a software and hardware company. He simply calls AZCOMP who can resolve the issues- and even resolve it quickly by just logging in remotely. He has experienced minimal down time when something does go down.
The installation process was a little difficult because he had to close his office to install the hardware and software. The first to third month of using the software was a little rocky because he had to balance between the old and new system until he was completely moved over. You have to make it want to work. You have to put in the effort and after you put in the work it will pay you back in dividends. To jump from the old system to the new system took a leap of faith and a little bit of training- but it was worth it.
Dr Nazareth shares how his patients feel about the Electronic Medical Record and how they react to him working on a laptop. Patients like that they can easily get reports on the EMR. Although Dr Nazareth personally doesn't prefer to use email it helps him weed out the small things that can be handled through email instead of a phone call and this saves him time. It is very convenient to show patients their report on the laptop. According to Dr Nazareth being able to show the patients reports or examples with pictures on his laptop makes it much easier to communicate with patients- a picture is worth a thousand words.