Software Solutions/EHR

Choosing an EHR System

The benefits of an EHR system are clear: It can make your practice more efficient and profitable, and improve patient care. But experts will tell you, it’s got to be a good fit.

Wes Strickling Codex Techworks

Even the best systems on the market now “all have flaws and strengths,” says Wes Strickling, founder of Codex Techworks, (www.codextechworks.com), an IT support company based in Columbus, Ohio, that specializes in technology specific to eyecare practices.

“If 90 percent of your billing is VSP, for example, “then finding the package with the best VSP system is critical,” he says. “Some practices are more medically based. You’ll want one of the systems that is better at medical billing. Not every one out there is right for every practice.”

There are dozens of choices on the market, and Strickling points to four major players to consider: Compulink’s Ophthalmic Advantage, OfficeMate’s ExamWRITER, the MaximEyes system by First Insight, and OD Pro from EMR Logic. Going with a big vendor’s product doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best one. But those firms will probably be more able to respond to changes coming in the next few years, as new industry standards—and government-backed financial incentives to use EHR—come into play.

“It’s important because the standards are coming,” Strickling says. The standards for certification of EHR products by the Certification Commission for Health Information (CCHIT) are still changing, he says. As they do, the bigger vendors “will have the development staff in house ready to go, and they’ll start making those changes” to their systems.

Two more key points to consider: Make sure the EHR system you choose can really deliver on the promise to integrate all the equipment you use or plan to acquire. Vendors will talk about system integration, but what do they mean? Pin vendors down to explain exactly what they mean. “When doctors go shopping they don’t always know to ask that,” Strickling says. “After they spend $30,000, they’ll wish they had done it.”

Finally, make sure your staff is involved early in choosing a system. Don’t pick one just because you like the part of it that you see, such as the exam module. The rest of it might not be so swell. “Doctors… are spending less time in the system than anybody else,” says Strickling. “If you’re buying a package for the few minutes you spend entering data, you’re missing the efficiency.”

Practice Profiles

Tamara Kuhlmann, OD, Powell, Ohio
“Stop Using Paperweights!”

Paperwork is not what Dr. Tamara Kuhlmann, OD, had in mind when she went into optometry 27 years ago. It ate up too much time as she and staff members filled out forms by hand or hunted down patient records. Paperwork also allowed too many errors. read more>

Thomas Overberg, OD, Fremont, Ohio
“The Paperless Practice”

The practice of Thomas J. Overberg, OD, in Fremont, Ohio (www.droverberg.com), has been paperless since 1996. Why did he make the switch so early? read more>

Kim Castleberry, OD, Plano, Texas
“The Pace of Change is Accelerating for Electronic Health Records and All the Rest”

When it comes to practice management software and electronic medical records, change really is the only constant, says Kim Castleberry, OD, who runs a $2 million a year practice in Plano, Texas. read more>

To Top
Subscribe Today for Free...
And join more than 35,000 optometric colleagues who have made Review of Optometric Business their daily business advisor.