Spotlight on Technology & Technique

Integrated Data Management Simplifies EHR

By Samantha Stahl, Assistant Editor

When it came time for Ophthalmic Consultants of the Capital Region of Albany, to take the EHR plunge, the practice's CEO, Nancy Shipley, recommended that a single platform system would be the best solution so there would be only one vendor to call for assistance. The practice, which consists of four offices, nine practitioners and a wide variety of imaging and testing equipment, needed something that could efficiently handle huge volumes of data. With integrated EHR, practice and Web data management systems, the Ophthalmic Imaging Systems (OIS) EMR was just the right fit.

Saving Time with Specifics

“As physicians, all we have to sell is our time—so we have to be as efficient with it as possible,” says Robert Sax, MD, PhD, a retina specialist at Albany-Troy. Being able to quickly bring up patient information is a crucial benefit to the OIS system. The practice formerly had small sheets of paper for exams—a method that worked, but was dated. OIS, which is fully HIPAA-compliant and ONC-ATCB certified, was able to duplicate the form so physicians had an easy transition to entering data into the computerized system.

Additionally, each doctor modified his or her standard screen to include the most relevant information for the corresponding subspecialty. When Dr. Sax does a macular examination, he has a specific dropdown menu that includes the details he looks for in his patients. Meanwhile, his glaucoma colleagues customize their menus to highlight angle, iris and nerve head descriptors. He says that the logic tree is modified for optometrists, plastics and cataract specialists as well.

“Oftentimes, dropdown menus are quite comprehensive with a large number of choices. You can set up this system so you don't have to look through a whole list and instead, have the top three descriptors that you use. It saves a lot of time and makes life easier,” he says.

Ophthalmic Imaging Systems offers a customizable chart layout so physicians at a multi-specialty practice can prioritize data for their specific exam needs.

Working Together

As any practice that has gone through the process can attest, Dr. Sax says that converting to EHR over the past two years has been “quite an adventure.” One of the first steps of the conversion consisted of OIS coming in to link the practice's many instruments (visual field machines, cameras, fluorescein imaging, OCTs, etc.) so that information could immediately be synched to the Symphony Web image management system. Symphony Web, an Internet-based system, allows users to access information from anywhere. Each device is integrated into a single screen, allowing physicians to review all of a patient's data simultaneously while making a diagnosis.

Implementation at Ophthalmic Consultants was done gradually to avoid interrupting business as usual. Dr. Sax says that OIS was very responsive to the practice to help ensure that the system was user-friendly for the staff. OIS was also recently acquired by Merge Healthcare, an enterprise imaging and interoperability company that OIS hopes will help grow the scope of the software in the future.

“It's a very powerful system,” Dr. Sax says. “As a multi-location, multi-specialty practice, we had unique needs. However, being able to connect all three components—practice management, EHR and Web data management—without third party data management has made it much easier to incorporate into the practice. The versatility is a big deal.” OM

For more information, visit www.oisi.com.