SPOTLIGHT ON TECHNOLOGY & TECHNIQUE

Ophthalmologist-created EHR strives to mimic clinician’s intuition

With patient visits in mind, Doctorsoft aims to eliminate frivolous options.

By Bill Kekevian, Senior Associate Editor

Before Mandi Conway, MD, FACS, opened Arizona Retina Specialists in the Phoenix suburb of Sun City West, she spent more than a decade dividing her time between a university setting (at Tulane University and University of Arizona) and a part-time private practice. In practice for 25 years, she has seen patient records evolve from paper to EHR. It has not always been an easy transition.

Previously, she used five EHR systems, including one she designed, each with quirks that would drag on her workflow. They all involved a veritable jungle of drop-down menus and multiple screens. “All I really wanted was to see the whole visit in one screen,” she says. It was unmanageable to the point where she was taking work home with her just to catch up on records. “It would end up taking 35 minutes to do a written record. I was working on records until midnight,” she says.

Things changed when she adopted Doctorsoft.

INTUITION

A fellow ophthalmologist, Sanjay Logani, MD, created the Doctorsoft EHR. Dr. Conway says the fact that it was created by a physician shows. Unlike programs that engineers and Web designers create, “Doctors, like Dr. Logani, know what’s needed to see, educate and treat the patient and get them out the door in five minutes,” Dr. Conway says.

Dr. Logani’s system was designed for convenience, even in its training module, which, Dr. Conway says, took her staff about an hour to learn. “It was so intuitive we didn’t have to slow down our patient flow,” she says.

PATIENT EDUCATION

According to Dr. Conway, the compatibility of the software allows her to integrate, among other features, voice recognition from her practice-management system. “I can just plug my microphone into my laptop or desktop and dictate,” she says. “You can also use an iPhone or iPad if you’re on the cloud,” she adds.

That cloud compatibility also allows physicians to transfer images between devices. “It’s really useful to pull up a fundus or OCT image and put it in front of the patient. Once they see it, they understand what’s going on,” she says.

It also provides access to all the AAO’s preprinted materials. You don’t have to buy the AAO brochures, you just get a license from the AAO to use them electronically. She can print those educational materials in color, she says.

DRAWING PROGRAM

“Every retina doctor has to draw the retina,” Dr. Conway explains, adding that you must draw any pathology. Instead of drop-down menus, Doctorsoft uses touch-screen capabilities. “With Doctorsoft you take your finger and draw with it and then take your finger and label it,” she says.

“Overall there has been nothing like this,” Dr. Conway says. “Now I think others are trying to copy it.” OM