the path to paperless
Converting to a New EPM
It provides an opportunity to update information.

In 1998, as the Y2K crisis loomed over the horizon, we were informed by our electronic practice management (EPM) provider, Fiscal, that they were no longer supporting their software for medical practices. We were thus left with the formidable and expensive proposition of getting a new EPM system. Subsequently, we decided on Medical Manager's system, one of the more robust products available at the time. For obvious reasons, when we decided on the move to EMR, Medical Manager was on our short list.

We Make a Switch

However, we ultimately decided on NextGen for EMR. And, after careful consideration, we opted to use their integrated EPM/EMR solution, even though this meant abandoning Medical Manager as our EPM platform. Earlier this year, we switched to NextGen's EPM prior to using the EMR module. Consequently, we had to decide whether or not we were going to convert our data from Medical Manager.

If a practice decides, as we did, to change to a new system that has its own EPM module, there are several issues to consider before bringing over the data (primarily demographics and insurance information) from the old EPM.

►Garbage in, garbage out. Over time, the information in any EPM database can degrade, primarily due to input errors. Users in our business office had created duplicate accounts for patients, depending on whether their insurance was a private carrier or Workers Compensation, purportedly as a timesaver. Unfortunately, this was information that would be difficult if not impossible to reconcile.

►Mapping data fields. Even if information is correct, it can be tedious work to ensure that old data ends up in its corresponding place in the new database. A patient's name should not end up in an address field and vice versa.

►Conversion cost. Most software vendors will charge you a flat fee for the job of converting the data from the old system to the new one.

Because we felt that NextGen would be our platform of choice for the long haul, we opted to manually input the data into the new system. NextGen had additional data fields that Medical Manager did not have, which needed to be filled in. The time saved from converting a few fields of information would have been minimal relative to the information that remained to be inputted. Although the conversion fee of $5,000 may seem expensive, it was undoubtedly less than the cost of staff-hours we actually spent on manually entering the data. Nevertheless, it was time well spent: we were able to rotate all of our employees through our training room to learn the EPM system while they called patients, verified their demographic and insurance information, and confirmed their appointments in the new system. OM 

Next: Adapting your workflow to the EMR system.

Peter J. Polack, M.D., F.A.C.S., is co-managing partner for Ocala Eye, PA, and a specialist in cornea, external disease and refractive surgery. Founded in 1971, Ocala Eye is a seven-partner, multisubspecialty ophthalmology practice located in Ocala, Fla. The practice, which has five locations including an ASC and laser center, has 140 employees. He can be reached by e-mail at ppolack@ocalaeye.com.