Simultaneous Launch Of EHR And PM Automates Environment In Specialty Practice

Professional Park focuses on family and internal medicine, seeing patients of all ages in Carrollton, Georgia and the surrounding areas. The practice, currently staffed1 by four physicians and one nurse practitioner, manages almost 89,000 patient encounters a year. There are five nurses and one medical assistant who support the providers and assist with patient care. The practice implemented a fully integrated practice management and electronic health record (EHR) solution. Three of the physicians are 100% fully converted on the EHR solution. The senior partner of the practice does not enter data into the solution, but does utilize the reports and history. His nurse performs scribing services and assists with automating his patients' (B records).

The practice chose to fully implement both the PM and EHR applications simultaneously. Most applications are deployed separately, approximately 3-6 months apart, to give the clinic and staff time to adjust to each new module. Professional Park decided to launch both applications and fully automate at the same time. Implementing just one new healthcare application can cause turmoil and challenges in any practice, but launching both PM/EHR together could have created chaos.

Coker interviewed staff from each department and found employees excited to have made the move to an automated, nearly paperless environment. They like the PrimeSuite solution and believe their training properly prepared them for their automation endeavor.