When Drs. May-Grant Associates in Lancaster, PA was in the beginning stages of transitioning to an electronic health record (EHR) system, the main barrier faced was the cost. “Since we are a large practice the cost was significant,” said Practice Administrator Mona Engle. “Once we secured a loan for not only the product but also the hardware needed, it was full steam ahead."
Drs. May-Grant Associates is now in its third year of Meaningful Use and the staff is finding that patient compliance continues to be a barrier that they face. “It's very frustrating that as providers we can do everything right, but we can't force the patient to do the right thing,” said Engle.
The staff has also found that the quality measures are at times confusing to understand and difficult to measure.
Engle shared several things the they did on a practice level which helped them overcome challenges faced during the MU process. Pivotal to the practice's success was investing the time up front to ensure it selected the EHR vendor to best meet the needs of the practice. "I encourage everyone to take the time needed to find the right solution for your practice," expressed Engle.
Additional words of advice to practices making the transition to an EHR are to be creative in how they implement their "Go Live" and transition into the electronic world. “Do lots of training,” advises Engle. She also emphasized the importance of being flexible and adaptable. “After four years in the product, we are still making workflow changes and learning to use the product better. We meet on a monthly basis as an EMR Committee to tackle concerns and suggest changes,” said Engle.
There have been many benefits that have been brought about by the EHR system, with the biggest being no more lost charts or wasted staff time looking for charts. Engle reports that the practice now has better documentation and coding. “Using customized templates and hard coded required elements in charting has improved our documentation and correct coding by our providers. Our billing manager is able to run reports to check accuracy of coding.”
Drs. Mays Grant Associates also attributes better efficiencies in staffing to its EHR, as the system has led to a decrease in medical records staff and transcription through attrition.
As somewhat seasoned EHR users, the staff at Drs. May Grant Associates has several lessons learned to share with other practices transitioning to an EHR and striving to achieve Meaningful Use. “The first lesson learned is that we are all creatures of habit and providers who have practiced medicine for years can have difficulty in changing their way of practicing. Yet, with great education, good communications, and patience, it can be accomplished,” said Engle.
Secondly, working closely with providers to improve their documentation time will improve revenue, and more importantly, it will elevate the quality of care. Patients can be more easily tracked for compliance whether for an annual visit, routine testing or other recommended testing.
The practice found the guidance and technical assistance offered to it through the PA REACH program to be of huge help. According to Engle, “We have been pleased to work with PA REACH. We are a large practice and have appreciated the assistance we have received.
The assistance they provided to help us work through our security analysis and annual security survey was an extreme value to us. We feel confident we are of high compliance due to their expertise in this area of meaningful Use,” said Engle.