Services

The Breast Care Center , wanted to build a paperless medical practice that would take advantage of recent technological innovations, enabling them to be more efficient and spend more time with patients. The practice needed a solution that would minimize their expenses and help them work efficiently with a small staff. After evaluating several options, they deployed an EMR Solution and relied on the IT Integration with Ashunya that comprised of Microsoft ® Windows ® Small Business Server as its foundation. Fiber Optic to capture Mammography, integrated desktops attached with scanners and printers also play a key role in the solution. These tools, along with electronic medical records and other software programs, have helped Breast Care Center streamline processes and provide care to more patients. As an added benefit, the solution saves her practice more than U.S. $65,000 per year.

Situation

Breast Care Center prior to integrated solution used to spend countless hours performing routine administrative tasks, such as dictating reports for patient visits, proofreading these reports, and then signing off on them after they had been transcribed by an outside organization. Although the practice used an EMR Software, they were not synchronized and paperless. The practice employed several assistants who helped with patient admission, medical records, and filing.

Dictating a single patient report, and proofreading, typically took 15 to 20 minutes. But because the physicians in the clinic regularly saw as many as 20 patients a day, each doctor had an additional five to seven hours of work after seeing the final patient. “Without an electronic record system that worked efficiently, all of the physicians had to work extremely long hours just to keep up,” says Dr. West. “After staying late into the evening, we had to come back early the next day to proofread and file the previous day's reports.”

Breast Care Center was in midst of moving to a new building and wanted to reduce the administrative burden by finding ways to increase efficiency. This was especially important because, the practice was going to grow twice and adding additional medical equipment to increase efficiencies; yet the pieces of the puzzle were disparate.

There were almost 20,000 charts that had to be made paperless within a record time and integrated within the EMR (Electronic Medical Records) software.

Solution

When BCC engaged with an EMR Package, they consulted with Ashunya who specialize in systems solution development for enterprise-level businesses. Together, they decided to build a paper-free medical practice that would maximize efficiency and minimize the costs associated with the storage and management of paper-based medical records.

Once they got engaged with the EMR Software, the solution was still disparate. BCC had to be paperless with their multiple offices; the office had to be streamlined from project management to post – implementation lifecycle.

“We did think about the various obstacles in the beginning,” says Dr. West. “But ultimately our decision came down to an issue of integration and execution.” The BCC Doctors put the faith in Ashunya to help integrate the multiple entities that included a host of different technologies, all of which integrate seamlessly. That is a powerful selling point,” he says.

BCC were also drawn to Ashunya because of the potential for creating a seamless environment in their Data Center . “With recent advances in technology, such as those of Microsoft software and Dell and Hewlett Packard, we knew Ashunya could execute our implementation which included walk-through, cabling of LAN and Fiber Optic, procurement of hardware and software, to implementation. They did not leave us hanging, says Dr. West, they now manage our facilities and let us take care of our patients while they manage the Integrated Solution(s). Ashunya provided services like medical chart scanning at their facility – making us completely paperless, helped us integrate our Digital Mammography into our EMR System, integrated the web site to attract more patients and integrated the electronic transcription end – to – end.

Simple and Easy Deployment

Because of the versatility offered by mobile technologies, the clinic needed hardware devices for all of its operations:

• A Dell Power Edge server functions as the clinic's main server.

• A second Dell Power Edge server handles file and print administration, and can function as a backup server or as part of the nursing station.

• At the front desk and throughout the facility each staff and the exam rooms use a Dell Optiplex from patient check-in, registration, scheduling, referrals, patient education, and so on.

• During working hours, the doctors are equipped with a Desktop which integrated digital mammography that increases their efficiencies and patient's morale as they have to take only one appointment for both; their mammography and then consulting with the doctors.

• When they are away, Ashunya has deployed tablets and laptops that are wireless and can be connected while they are away from the office, The doctors use Dell Laptops and Toshiba Tablets to stay connected with patients, hospitals, and local pharmacies.

By implementing integrated technologies and services from Ashunya, Breast Care Center eliminated the need for separate computers in all of its rooms. “The entire solution was very easy to deploy,” says Dr. West. “Even without previous experience with the specific hardware and software we chose, Ashunya to help us set up and configure the network which was fairly intuitive.”

Because the center's Dell Power Edge server came preinstalled with Microsoft Windows Small Business Server, it took only a few hours for Ashunya to get all the software up and running. Built-in tools simplified the installation process, helping Ashunya take all necessary security steps when setting up the clinic's network.

BCC chose to deploy a host of technologies, with Microsoft Small Business Server as the solution's foundation. Their decision was based on the fact that Small Business Server provides a fully integrated solution that allows for customization, offers a high level of security, and can be expanded when necessary. Small Business Server not only comes with a built-in firewall that—in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)—prevents outsiders from accessing private healthcare information, but it also includes several integrated tools such as Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and the Microsoft Office Outlook ® 2003 messaging and collaboration client. In addition, Small Business Server works well with the center's chosen EMR software. Ashunya designed, deployed and now manages the entire portfolio of their IT Solutions.

Together, these technologies have changed the nature of healthcare for BCC and her patients. From the time a patient first walks into the center, each step during the medical visit is handled with efficiency.

Following are the areas of seamless integration and service that Ashunya has provided and manages their business process.

In most doctors' offices, it is typically someone's job to pull all patient records the day before those patients' scheduled appointments. After check-in, a nurse or medical assistant escorts the patient to an examination room, takes the patient's vital signs, and places a flag outside of the room to let the physician know when to go in. With the integrated solution, a medical assistant manages the check-in process, shows patients to their rooms, and takes their vital signs. The medical assistant then enters this information into the EMR system that runs on Small Business Server. Dr. West simply opens his PC and sees when a patient is ready for her. “Now, I don't have to go out into the hallway every few minutes to see if my assistant is finished,” says Dr. West.

With a fully integrated network and a Microsoft solution throughout the clinic, the staff can access the information they need at any time.

The integrated network also cuts down on possible interruptions during patient visits. “While I am in with the patient, if I have to look for a digital mammography that was taken in an imaging center an hour ago, I don't have to leave the room to pull records from my patient's chart, because I already have everything in my computer,” he says. “Because we are using EMR software in conjunction with Small Business Server, any lab results or information can come directly to my Tablet PC, right to my fingertips. I can review the documents and sign off on them right there on the spot.”

The BCC Doctors frequently utilize the fully integrated media center that has data and voice capabilities along with an integrated video conferencing capability as a teaching tool to answer patient questions. From live surgeries being transmitted to patient education, the media center is part of the integrated network.

BCC had around a 1000 sq. ft. area dedicated to medical charts and was an enormous task even after the EMR was implemented. It was a panic to use the paper and paperless at the same time. BCC asked Ashunya to do a pre and post ROI (Returns on Investments) analysis for making the charts paperless into the EMR.

“Not only did Ashunya professionally organize the charts from prepping to medical scanning, approximately 16,000 charts were handled logistically and scanned into the EMR Software in less than 8 weeks. Today, we operate in less than 100 square feet. Not only it saved us space, it helped us streamline our business process. We are in the business of treating patients. We let Ashunya handle what it does best. And it paid off”, says Dr. West.

Benefits

As a result of the innovative use of technology, BCC is able to manage their practice more efficiently. Ashunya has helped them reduce the time and expense of several manual processes, such as those involved in medical records and billing. It has also made it possible for BCC and the staff to serve the needs of her patients with the assistance of a single employee, while keeping infrastructure-related expenses to a minimum.

The solution and services also helps BCC minimize the costs associated with the management of her practice. In all, she estimates that various aspects of the solution are helping her to save more than U.S. $65,000 annually. These cost savings come from three main areas:

• Staff expenditures . According to Dr. West, at least four full-time employees would typically be needed to run a practice of similar size.

• Dictation and transcription processes improved . Because BCC captures essential patient information Ashunya Medical Transcription Services have streamlined their dictation to transcription services cutting almost 30% of the total costs annually.

Dr. West enjoys the convenience that the integrated technologies offer. In addition to other areas of cost savings, BCC saves more than 10 hours each week on miscellaneous office work. As a result, they are able to maintain reasonable hours. “Shortly after I see my last patient, I am done for the day,” he says. “That is not something that most doctors can say.”

because BCC is over 90 percent paper-free, employee moral has also benefited. “We love the connected system and services offered by Ashunya,” says Dr. West. “It has helped us feel that we are doing something valuable and not just pushing paper. And it is important for us to ensure a positive work environment for everyone.”