The Ophthalmology Software Suite

By simplifying software payments, upgrades, integration and support, Medflow Complete Solution wins over small- and medium-sized ophthalmology practices.

It's inevitable that today's ophthalmology practices use a number of different software products, from the report software in their diagnostic devices to electronic health records (EHRs) to financial software. Even a small- to medium-sized practice might use a half dozen programs. One system helps them merge many of their software needs into a single package. With the Medflow Complete Solution, ophthalmology practices get one company for support and one monthly fee that includes Practice Management, Medflow EHR, Medflow ePrescribing, Medflow Imaging, Medflow Optical, Medflow ASC and VisionConnect Patient Portal. This integration has its advantages. The products are designed specifically for ophthalmology and implemented and supported by professionals in the field, so the Medflow Complete Solution is uniquely right for ophthalmology.

Advantages of a Single Company

At Chesen Laser Eye Center in Reading, Pa., practice administrator Temah Copelovitch oversees the busy practice, along with the staff that serves the practice's three doctors. The doctors gave her carte blanche to choose an EHR and a new practice management system. She researched all of the options for well over a year, beginning with what doctors and staff wanted to get from the software and how they wanted it to work, and then graduating to an evaluation of all the options.

“It was a major decision. Number one on our checklist was getting an EHR and a practice management system under the same manufacturer's umbrella. I wanted to deal with one company for implementation, support, fees and updates,” Temah says. “A year later, I'm glad that I made that choice. By choosing the Medflow Complete solution, we got all of those advantages and I was able to negotiate for both as a package. There is no question that dealing with two separate companies would have cost considerably more.”

Medflow Complete also included other priorities on Temah's checklist, including automatic reporting for the Physician Quality Reporting System, insurance verification each night, the ability to fax referral letters while the patient is still in the lane, a single-screen exam with no switching windows, easy-to-customize templates and letters, and fulfillment of Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology requirements.

“I listened to my gut about how dependable the company felt to me,” she says. “Dependability is ultimately as important as the product. If they don't deliver what they promise, then I've let the practice down. The Medflow Complete team I dealt with made me confident that their service would be there after I signed on the dotted line, and they've exceeded my expectations. If I had to do it again, I'd make exactly the same choice.”

Made Just for Ophthalmology

Getting an EHR and a practice management system to work the way you want them to in your practice can be difficult. You might have to do a lot of customizing, which can be time-consuming, expensive, and depending on your needs, even impossible. The fact that Medflow Complete is designed specifically for ophthalmology practices and lets you fine-tune templates to your needs is a big selling point for many customers.

Phillip L. Harrington, MSSM, is administrator of Baltimore Washington Eye Center in Glen Burnie, Md., a cataract and refractive practice with three locations. The center has three ophthalmologists, one optometrist and 42 employees. He chose Medflow Complete in part because they are made for ophthalmology.

“Medflow Complete is made for our specialty, but any product also has to be worthy. This is an excellent product,” Phillip explains. “I've seen good EHR and practice management software made for general purposes, and they can be made to work, but that takes effort and time. In 23 years in this business, I've learned that if something isn't good right out of the box, it can contaminate the waters in terms of employees' perceptions, and you don't always get them back, even after the vendor fixes the issues.”

Phillip touts all the famous advantages of EHRs, like integrated DICOM imaging; no more searching for, waiting for, pulling or managing charts; increased staff time and fewer errors with data re-entry virtually eliminated; accessibility and interpretation of complete clinical information; automated dating and documentation for historic purposes; and the ability to track technician productivity to aid staffing decisions. He also had a specific challenge with his optical area that existing EHRs didn't address.

“We had a very ‘old time’ optical area, where people lived and died by certain forms — file cabinets filled with every customer prescription and purchase. Breaking staff of that procedure and getting them into the electronic age was not easy, and we needed a good EHR to help us win them over,” Phillip says. “I talked to Medflow's founder, who was also excited to change the ‘old time’ optical routine. He said that if we helped, Medflow would create an optical component. Two other Medflow clients helped, too. They wanted to know our needs and fulfill them best, and I think they've done that. Now our optical staff uses wireless laptops at the fitting tables for patient education and placing orders, and they control inventory with bar code scanners. The EHR helped them see the advantages.”

Professional Transition and Support

What will it be like for your practice to implement an EHR system, or even both an EHR and a new practice management system? Did that question fill you with dread? Temah Copelovitch has some words of confidence.

“The conversion that they did for us was exquisite. We had a UNIX™ system before — the polar opposite of the new system — and they converted our patient demographics, clinical data and financial data with no glitches,” she recalls. “Any data that didn't convert perfectly, the trainer fixed, so that by the time we went live, every single thing was there. It was a beautiful thing. We actually did not have to refer to the old system once after we went live, even though we kept it running for six months.”

As the implementation team set up the practice's new software, trained the staff and provided support, Temah felt understood, like she was among colleagues — because she was. “Medflow Complete stands out because the people who install and support the software and train the staff are certified ophthalmic medical technologists, certified ophthalmic assistants and licensed opticians,” she says. “They've been in our shoes. They've run practices, they've been technicians and scribes and worked the front desk, and they know the stress and the crunches and the pitfalls. When we ask them questions, they get it. It's really like having somebody by your side going through it with you. We're confident that we'll have the same support in the future as the software changes to meet new challenges, as well. To our staff, that's everything.” ■