Dentaltown December 2013 - (Page 100)

product profile Dental EHR and Meaningful Use: Pushing the Boundaries of Dentistry by David Smith Dr. and Mrs. Robert Carr of Umatilla, By capturing vitals like blood pressure, Oregon, a husband and wife team, have they are able to screen for problems, such as implemented an ONC-ATCB certified syshypertension, and provide valuable infortem with the DentiMax Electronic Health mation so patients can get additional care Records (EHR) software. The Carrs' overall from their primary care physicians. In addigoal is to use this system for preventive care tion, the Carrs now have a method for and improved efficiency, in addition to the ordering medical labs to check for hepatitis functions that are required to meet the and other problems. government's "meaningful use" criteria. For preventive care services, they are also Dental providers who see enough working on cleanings and sealants for their Medicaid patients can collect a government patients. With the EHR system, they can incentive payment of $63,750 for purchascreate lists of patients who have not yet ing a certified EHR system and using it in a way that meets received this care and set up reminders to bring them in for government requirements called "meaningful use." For oral additional care. (Lists and reminders are optional "meaningful surgeons and other providers who accept Medicare patients, use" requirements.) $24,000 is also still available through the Medicare program. The office has been using the medication list and the probThe functionality for performing the "meaningful use" work lem list as well. These two areas provide several benefits. With has real-life application in the dental office by improving effi- medication history functionality, the office can check which ciency, increasing revenue and helping provide better health care kinds of medications a patient has received from other healthfor patients. For specific instructions on actual "meaningful use" care providers. As many patients do not provide a full list of requirements, see the following link: http://www.cms.gov/ medications they are taking, or are unable to give the full list, Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/ this is a significant opportunity and advantage. This feature also Downloads/EP-MU-TOC.pdf provides allergy, disease and other information that can help you To implement EHR software in their clinic, the Carrs set out identify other problems the patient may not be disclosing. by creating some goals for improved efficiency. They also have a Dr. Carr's practice continues to implement new functionalpersonal mission to improve not only the oral health, but also ity with the EHR system and has already defined a few addithe overall health of their patients. tional clinical care possibilities with this software. He has plans The Carrs' clinical team feels that dentistry has a tremendous to implement informational handouts from the automated opportunity to help discover various health problems and patient education system. These patient education handouts help patients avoid potential health issues that come with chronic include information for smoking cessation and treatment for illness. The opportunity for assessing and improving their patients' drug addiction problems. overall health, including oral health, is critical to the Carrs. The Carrs encourage more dentists to take advantage of One of the many benefits of using the DentiMax EHR EHR software. Overall, his practice is seeing opportunities for system is no duplicative data entry. Mrs. Joann Carr, the office improved efficiencies using templates and increased revenue manager, shared the following additional possibilities and bene- through preventive care services. And most importantly, with fits of using the EHR software. EHR Dr. Carr now has a more accurate picture of his patients By integrating the system into their workflow, the Carrs reduce overall health, which has helped improve the care he provides. n the time a patient spends in the chair. They are able to automate the capture of detailed patient Author's Bio notes and other patient information by using software templates. They have created both adult David Smith has a master's in business administration from Westminster and pediatric templates, as well as hygiene temCollege and a BA from Brigham Young University. He has assisted more than 100 plates, that they use to gather patients' clinical medical providers attain meaningful use. For the last 15 years, he has worked in information quickly and easily. With this addithe health-care information technology market. He has written dental practice management tional EHR clinical information already entered system users' guides, and worked in operations and product management for electronic health record vendors. Reach David Smith at medtimer@gmail.com. into the software by the staff, Dr. Carr has a more complete picture as he attends to his patients. 100 DECEMBER 2013 » dentaltown.com http://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/Downloads/EP-MU-TOC.pdf http://www.dentaltown.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown December 2013

Howard Speaks: Best Practices, 2013
Dentaltown.com Highlights
Professional Courtesy: It’s (Always) Showtime
Continuing Education Update
Second Opinion: Providing Personalized Care in Dentistry
Selling Your Soul to PPOs?
Townie Choice Awards
Hey, Carlsen! I’m Going to Trade Stocks, Time the Market and Beat It!
Long-distance Communication Led to Beautiful Full-mouth Implant Case Results
Ad Index
Product Profile: Dental EHR and Meaningful Use
What’s on Your Tray?
Perio Reports
Profile in Oral Health: Are Your Team Members Indispensable?
Dentally Incorrect
Simplifying the Challenging: The One-tooth Restoration with CEREC
White Smiles in the African Bush
Cycling for Charity

Dentaltown December 2013