Spotlight ON TECHNOLOGY & TECHNIQUE

IO Practiceware: EMR Tailored for Ophthalmology Practices

By Leslie Goldberg, Associate Editor

Looking to make your life as well as your staff and patients' lives easier? IO Practiceware (New York, N.Y.) is a combined electronic medical record and practice management system specifically designed for ophthalmology and can be easily customized to meet the needs of different practices.

Physician Feedback

A colleague recommended IO Practiceware to Ron Sachs, M.D., a retinal specialist in Morristown N.J., in 2005. "The software is specifically written for the field of ophthalmology, making it very intuitive for ophthalmologists and their staff," says Dr. Sachs, adding that the company is responsive to customer input regarding desired software improvements.

Gradually phasing in the system made for a smooth transition. "At first, we only worked with follow-up patients on the system, excluding new patients. After about 3 months, we transitioned fully and all patients were added to the system," says Dr. Sachs.

One of the greatest advantages, he says, is decreased transcription costs. If doctors have been working with a scribe system, integrating IO Practiceware is simple because the staff is already in the mindset of doing tasks necessary in EMR. The system's letter generator also contributed to transcription savings. "Over time, it has also improved workflow in the office and allowed me to spend more face-to-face time with patients," he says.

He also uses the system for billing. "I had older billing-management software that was about 11 years old, so I was in the market for a new practice management and EMR system," says Dr. Sachs. "For the price, I got both products in one system."

Charles S. Reing, M.D., a cornea-fellowship trained general ophthalmologist practicing in Wayne, N.J., helped contribute to the software's development. "A retinal specialist colleague who was already using the system recommended the company to me. The anterior segment section at that time was very rudimentary and disorganized," he says. "I gave quite a bit of advice as to the content needed." Dr. Reing had previously written some ophthalmology-specific software of his own and had learned a great deal about programming, but had to discontinue that as the project was too taxing. He says that while every system has minor drawbacks, IO Practiceware gives his staff 95-98% of what they're looking for in EMR.

"We started using the system for billing in January 2005 and went live with medical records in November of that year. The staff picked up the information quickly, as they were already well versed in ophthalmology terminology," says Dr. Reing. "We have been using the system on 100% of our charts for close to 2 years."

Customized for Ophthalmology

"One of the nice things about this company is its flexibility in response to the needs of the physicians," states Dr. Reing. "As the software has developed over the past few years, ophthalmology subspecialists have suggested nuances and changes that were specific to their areas of expertise, most of which have been incorporated into the software. This has helped to keep it user-friendly and up-to-date."

The software increases the ease in which users can document exams, Dr. Reing says, describing its records as more thorough, less cumbersome and easier to read than paper charts. "The software summarizes much of the information ophthalmologists need from previous visits, such as previous surgeries and diagnoses, medications and contact lens histories."

Dr. Reing says the system streamlines the flow of information through his office seamlessly without paper. Patients are checked in and placed in virtual exam or testing rooms. After the patient is checked out of the room, reports are generated at appropriate locations. "Medication prescriptions are printed at the front desk, eyeglass prescriptions are printed in the optical dispensary, and the system alerts the front desk to schedule follow-up appointments or reminders and to other checkout items such as co-pays." Billing information is automatically generated based on the data or procedures documented, he says.

Dr. Reing reiterates that the system is so effective because it was designed with the input of ophthalmologists specifically for the field of ophthalmology. "There is just so much material that needs to be charted in ophthalmology notes that is unique to our field — this software makes the whole process less cumbersome." OM

For more information, visit www.iopracticeware.com.