In starting a new practice in Alamosa, Colorado, Rock Creek Family Medicine took a hard look at their work flow patterns.....

Previous experience had made Dr. Martin Sowards aware that he didn’t want his staff spending time retrieving, re-filing, and searching for misplaced charts. He wanted his staff to respond quickly to routine calls such as prescription refill requests or questions about the results of lab tests. In addition to the administrative and clinical efficiencies gained by an EMR, Rock Creek wanted to lower the hard cost of running a practice. Dr
Sowards knew that with the right electronic medical record, they would be able to reduce or eliminate transcription costs, labor costs, pharmacy costs, and reduce their malpractice insurance costs.

 

Solution....
Rock Creek implemented an integrated system of Practice Partner EMR and MicroMD billing and scheduling. This meant seamless transfer of information between the applications and also helped
simplify support and training for the physician and his staff. The doctor is using a wireless touch-screen tablet PC in conjunction with networked PC’s at the front desk and nurses station. The patient can now move smoothly from the check-in process to the nurses’ station for vital signs and into the exam room without a staff member ever having to carry a paper chart.

Practice: Rock Creek Family Medicine
Type of Practice: Primary Care
Size of Practice: 1 Physician, 1 CNM
Providers: Martin Sowards, MD
Practice Overview: RCFM was established
to provide a wide range of services to
Southern Colorado.
Previous System: None


“This technology paid for itself in a matter of a few months. It may be the most profitable investment I made in starting my new practice.”
     Martin Sowards, MD
     Rock Creek Family Medicine

Benefits....

By increasing the number of patients receiving recommended preventive services, such as immunizations and annual physicals, patients receive the services they need and revenues are enhanced.

The staff has saved as much as 33% of their time by reducing the tedious chart and medication related paperwork.

By improving the completeness of our documentation and the accuracy of our coding, we have been able to increase the number of services offered and increase the number of visits per day.

Unlike other EMR’s we looked at, the only thing we need to do to get a complete chart is enter a progress note by either pen-based touch-screen, keyboard, dictation or voice recognition. This flexibility has allowed us to rapidly get up on the system.