Little People, Big Results: Chelsea Pediatrics Grows with Pediatric EMR It s crucial to have a flexible electronic medical records. I love that I can customize WRS templates to my pediatrics practice. Chelsea Pediatrics Pediatrics Practice Goshen, NY When you step off the elevator on the second floor in an office building in Goshen, New York the first thing you will see are a pair of purple pastel flip flops and a neon sun visor hanging on the wall in the hallway. Turn the corner and walk into Suite 201 and you ll be greeted by Dennis the Menace and Sesame Street characters that are hand painted on the walls. A bunny riding on a wooden skateboard is perched above the doorway of a sparkling clean and nicely furnished office. On another wall there is a picture frame with the words to Joni Mitchell s song Chelsea. This may look like the workplace of a frivolous person, but Nancy Ferraro, a nurse practitioner is anything but frivolous. Ferraro wasn t happy with some of the policies that were in effect at several practices where she was employed. Instead of sending out a batch of resumes for another job, in November 2009 Ferraro decided to take a leap and open her own pediatrics practice. With 25 years of school nursing, ER nursing and surgical nursing experience under her belt, Ferraro was intent on creating a warm and friendly environment for her pediatrics patients. She was equally insistent about finding a customized Pediatric EMR software system that would enable her new practice to run smoothly and efficiently so that she could spend more time with her patients. After all, that was the prime reason she was going out on a limb to open her own practice. Ferraro, who proudly boasts that her patients are happy that she doesn t rush them out of the office, originally considered using paper charts. When she realized how expensive a filing system and a fireproof filing cabinet with a lock would be, she changed her mind and decided to look for a Pediatrics cloud EMR. 1
There are also so many various forms in pediatrics, as there are in any specialty. So I said, I m going to go electronic. That s the wave of the future. I knew I wanted an EMR. I had to really do my research. Then my husband, who is the technophile in the family said, You should get a cloud EMR. That requirement eliminated quite a few companies. I had a handful of EMRs that I wanted to research, said Ferraro. Doing Your Homework Ferraro evaluated Athena and eclinicalworks. I use eclinicalworks at another practice. There s way too much information in that system and it is always going down. They have servers at my other practice. This is a small practice so I don t need a server and that saves money, said Ferraro. Emphasizing that she did more than just go online and read about various EMR companies, Ferraro said she took the time to do Go to Meetings with several companies to learn about their pediatrics EMR and to see how they were set up. I was very pleased with eclinicalworks initially. Then I got to Waiting Room Solutions and I thought, This is going to work for me. Before I knew the price I knew that I liked it. I liked the look of it. It is clean and so crisp and the staff is very supportive. They are excellent. Ferraro also liked the way that she was able to set up and manipulate Waiting Room Solutions. It s crucial to have a flexible electronic medical records. I love that I can customize WRS templates to my pediatrics practice. While nurse practitioners perform many of the same functions as an M.D., it is no secret that they earn substantially less. With all of the other expenses involved in starting a new practice, Ferraro needed an affordable system. She found Waiting Room Solutions to be substantially discounted for a nurse practitioner. Ferraro praised WRS for being sensitive to the fact that although nurse practitioners diagnose, treat, prescribe medications and give immunizations, they don t have the same budget as physicians. When she mentioned her budget concerns to one vendor, they offered her a $1,000 discount. I needed a 20-30% discount in order to be able to afford their system, she said. Acknowledging that she recommended Waiting Room Solutions to the physicians at the other practice where she works, Ferraro said, I told them, I don t know why you went to eclinical- Works. You should have looked at Waiting Room Solutions. Our dashboard comes up and it s crisp and clear. eclinicalworks uses such small print and there s so much information on the page and I don t have access to change templates. I m very flexible and open to new things and 2
Since WRS is a web-based EMR I can go home and write my notes. WRS cloud enables me to get my charts from anyplace and at anytime. I gave eclinicalworks a try. I said to the physicians, It s still not as good as WRS. I opened up WRS for one doctor and I said, I can get my charts anywhere. Since WRS is a web-based EMR I can go home and write my notes. WRS cloud enables me to get my charts from anyplace and at anytime. Pointing out that Waiting Room Solutions is also easy to maneuver, Ferraro said, You certainly can find things better and visually, it is so much more comfortable. With the EMR system I use at the other practice, I have to go into three different windows and keep clicking to get to Advanced Directives. It s much more difficult to use than WRS. I just go to the patient s name, then go to Patient Management and I find Directives. In eclinicalworks, there are little tiny boxes that are hard to see, asserted Ferraro. New Updates Ferraro also commended WRS for having well-conceived updates. I tell people that I stay with WRS because they are always making improvements that are positive. The enhancements are insightful, useful and right on the mark The latest upgrade for appointments tells you what the appointment is whether it s a well visit or an immunization visit. As each day passes, Ferraro finds that she accrues yet another benefit. Every now and then I say, I should be doing this better and I fine tune it. The more you use WRS the more you see the benefits. That s where the richness is and it s not terribly difficult to change things. You don t have to be a rocket scientist. It s quite simple, stated Ferraro. Great Customer Service Getting assistance and training are additional perks that Ferraro raved about. When I call or e-mail WRS and say, can you help me? I get answers right away. That was a huge plus. In WRS you can also go into help and get self-guided training. It tells you how to set up your entire practice on the EMR, Ferraro commented. 3
So how has Ferraro s quality of life improved? WRS makes your life easier. There s nothing like writing a note, but when you want to print out a note for lawyers or patients, the note is there and when you print it out, it s legible. I don t have to open up a chart, flip through 50 pages, and have them fall on the floor and say, Here copy this note. If someone asks for a note or to print out a claim, it s all there. My quality of life is much better. I can access charts from home and from my other office. I can print or review a claim because it automatically puts the information into the claim. I ll view it to check if it s correct before it goes out to the biller, asserted Ferraro. Getting Connected Pointing out that as long as there s an Internet connection she can use WRS from anywhere, Ferraro said that if a patient calls or a hospital calls her on a Saturday night when she s not in the office, she can pull the chart up and see the patient s immunizations and history. If a hospital calls me, I can access the information. That s the beauty of WRS. It speeds things up. Patients like that, said Ferraro. Merits of E-prescribing The e-prescribing capability is yet another feature that Ferraro couldn t live without. E-prescribing is an absolute benefit. The prescription gets right to the pharmacy. When the patient arrives at the pharmacy the prescription is done. WRS has very stringent regulations that you need to enter. It stops you very nicely (if you leave something out) and it doesn t make it difficult going back. If you leave anything out, the system reminds you. You fill it in and then you can send the prescription to patients and the pharmacy, which is already set up. Ferraro can count on WRS to ensure that before she leaves the screen she has entered all of the information needed to complete a prescription. Ferraro also receives alerts if a dosage is too high for a certain age group. That s all incorporated with the prescription set up: high dosage, low dosage, contraindication, do you want to continue, are you aware of the interactions? she said. Scanning Perks Emphasizing that WRS offers a lot of functionality, Ferraro is relieved that the system is capable of scanning everything including labs. If I need to know a patient s lead level from March I have labeled it and it s in his chart. I don t have to flip through paper charts and look for it. With WRS there s explanation of benefits (EOBs) with the billing. You can download all the ex- 4
planation of benefits from the insurance company. It can be scanned in and placed next to the patient s claim, telling you whether they have paid or not or if the claim was rejected. Everything is at your fingertips, said Ferraro. Team Spirit Finally, Ferraro couldn t be happier with how well WRS team has been responding to her needs as a nurse practitioner as well as the needs of a pediatrics practice since day one. When I ask, How do I speed this up? How do I get around this? WRS is helpful and very open to suggestions. I asked if they could group immunizations according to type of immunization, not just according to date. For example, we need to know that there are three hepatitis B immunizations. WRS is so flexible and they listen to the needs of pediatrics, concluded Ferraro. 2012 Waiting Room Solutions, 30 Matthews Street, Suite 107, Goshen, NY 10924 tel: (866)977-4367 fax: (845)675-5052 5