Slim man laughs at his fat self
Have you ever found yourself laughing at what you have become only to shake your head in disbelief? You may feel this way as you look at the current software you utilize in your optometry office. Maybe you thought all software was pretty much created equal or maybe you make excuses when you overhear your colleagues praising their practice management software while you curse yours. Just like all cataract surgeons are not created equal, all software for optometry offices are not created equal.
Below are real-life examples of why one office is going to stop making excuses and do something about it. The office doctors have all attested to meaningful use stage 1 and are looking to qualify for stage 2 this year. They did not want to change but knew they needed to.
- When you checkmark an MU box the result is a PQRS auto code which works some of the time, even when the exact boxes are checked.
- Customer service gives multiple answers for the same question (verified by numerous doctors and staff members).
- A programmer locks himself out of the SQL database on the server. The irony is the SQL database is the one the programmer works on all the time.
- Blood pressure readings default from a past exam of Patient A into the new exam of Patient B, resulting in Patient A’s blood pressure readings in Patient B’s chart. This happens on all patients when a blood pressure has been taken.
- Notes previously made just disappear days later. . . no reason. Call customer service. . . yeah, that happens sometimes.
- Exams lost after closing them, although the message says it is saving. . .gone, gone, gone. Who needed that exam anyway?
- During the coding process, the first diagnosis code automatically defaults to all the procedures listed. When you attempt to change to a different diagnosis code to match the appropriate procedure, the default first code pops back in automatically when saving and exiting. This results in improper coding that is sent to Gateway unless our coder catches it and corrects it on the insurance claim. Even if caught by coder, it still remains incorrect in the EHR.
- The software is so “bulky” it requires the office to upgrade computers much sooner than necessary. Hardware will last much longer when software runs with little effort (if you use a Mac you understand).
- When exam pulls forward different boxes are checked resulting in incorrect information defaulting from previous record to new record, this requires doctor and staff to read through every documentation of new exam deleting many incorrect elements that were pulled forward.
- When closing a CL order in one patient and opening another patient CL order, the closed out patient’s CL information pulls to the newly opened patient and replaces the correct information, and it is never consistent, sometimes it is prescription only, sometimes all of the info, data substitution varies.
It is difficult enough for practices to comply with all the regulations of HIPAA and meaningful use. An optometry practice that has a software which works against them results in a greater number of staff hours and a very inefficient office. If you are struggling to make your practice profitable in our world of electronic healthcare, maybe it is time for you to seriously consider switching to another practice management/EHR system.
