New Electronic Practice Management System and Radiology Information System (RIS) for Redwood Regional Medical Group that will replace PRISM.
Work is underway to launch MedInformatix - a new electronic Practice Management System and Radiology Information System (RIS) for Redwood Regional Medical Group that will replace PRISM and join all the different divisions and offices of the practice with one, easy to use software product.
With MedInformatix, patients need only be entered once into the system and there will be only one medical record number (MRN) for that patient practice-wide. Furthermore, all the appointments (current or historical), radiology reports and other vital information that are cumbersome to manage such as billing and insurance coverage, will be available to everyone across all our offices and specialties throughout the entire RRMG system.
Led by Chief Technology Officer, Brook Norris, and a team of managers and "super users," the new software is currently being configured and tested during November and December. Training for RRMG staff will begin in January with a "go-live" date of February 1, 2008.
An example of how MedInformatix will integrate all RRMG services is well demonstrated in the case of a breast cancer patient. As we all know, a woman that receives a mammogram with a positive indication of cancer is seen by a team of physicians and requires multiple appointments for tests and doctor visits as part of her treatment. Every time she moves from one department to another,, for instance radiology to surgery or radiation oncology, she must be entered into that department's tracking system. "But with MedInfo, a patient is only entered once," said Brook. As a patient proceeds with their care plan, items such as appointments, lab work, treatment and even insurance information and billing statements are available at anytime by all divisions participating in that care plan because there is only one medical record number. The same holds true for any other patient seen by any RRMG physician. "The net result is greater efficiency for the practice and higher patient satisfaction with our care processes for all the different medical cases we treat," said Brook.
Conversion and implementation of any new software can be a huge undertaking with lots of challenges. One of the most significant challenges in launching MedInformatix is identifying all the pieces that need to be cleaned up, consolidated and uploaded into the system before it is launched. Since MedInformatix integrates patient demographics, insurance information, billing, and our PACS (Picture Archiving and Communications System) into one single paperless interface, most of the current work flows now used to track our patients required study and redesign. Much of this work has been ongoing since last spring as part of the efforts by Denise Hayes, VP of Operations, and Dennis Brown, Imaging Administrator, to standardize our procedures to improve patient flow in radiology, oncology and surgery.
"We knew in 2006 that we wanted to take the next step in integrating our practice with one paperless system that ties all the pieces of radiology, surgery, and oncology into one database and system of operations," said Denise. "So we began going to all the offices and divisions to observe and document the entire process from start to finish. It was a challenging project but it really helped highlight the areas where the offices differed in their policies and procedures and it gave us some great ideas to improve our current systems that have already implemented."
"One of the key advantages to MedInformatix was its built-in RIS," said Dennis. "The unique MRN allows patient information to flow seamlessly from scheduling patients to managing their reports and films in the current PACs on through to our billing processes. Many of the steps we now use in radiology to track patient flow are no longer necessary."
Brook, Denise and Dennis, together with the rest of the executive staff, reviewed and met with software companies to evaluate their features and technology. "Only a few really matched our unique needs as a multi-specialty practice," said Mike Smith, Chief Financial Officer. "MedInfo was chosen because it provides the flexibility, efficiency and power we need as well as being easy to learn and use. Processes that were manual and paper driven will now become electronic - especially for Radiology. In contrast to Prism, MedInfo provides the functionality and scalability to grow with our practice."
Training several hundred people to use MedInformatix will be no easy task. However, a team of 20 "superstars" was recently assembled to take on the project. This dedicated group of current RRMG employees was chosen for their knowledge of the practice and their experience in important areas of the implementation. They have the responsibility for teaching the rest of us how to use MedInformatix based on their area of expertise. The "super users" are already helping with the conversion and will go through system training in January. Their key role be to make sure everyone that will be using MedInformatix has all the training they need and ongoing support for questions and issues before and after the system goes live in the Spring of 2008.
"This project is part of our overall commitment to improving our work environment for the employees of RRMG and our care to our patients. It's a key step in improving the way we do business," said Brook.
