Healthcare IT News - September 2008 - (Page 23) www.HealthcareITNews.com PhySIcIaN PRactIcES & amBulatoRy caRE September 2008 ■ Healthcare IT News 23 NeWMeXICo Continued from page 1 N. C. practice adds management platform By RICHaRd PIzzI, Associate Editor new technology since September 2007. “This is an important step toward improving accuracy and safety of patient care,” Vigil said. “We should serve as a role model in furthering the governor’s goal of creating an electronic medical record system in New Mexico.” Vigil said Richardson’s administration hopes that a statewide move to EMRs will improve the quality of care and allow the Department’s public health staff to analyze and tailor services to match the needs of patients. Winona Stoltzfus, MD, regional health officer for the Department of Health in Roswell, N.M., said electronic medical records have advantages for clients and staff in public health offices. “The system is very easy to use and once we get through the transition from the old system we decrease the wait times for appointments for Alfredo Vigil, MD our clients,” Stoltzfus said. “Another plus is better continuity of care in our health offices around the state. If we have a patient at the Roswell Public Health Office who needs services in Las Cruces we now have immediate access to their medical records.” The New Mexico project for digitizing medical records in public health offices cost $1.3 million. The Department of Health received $750,000 from the State legislature in 2005 to implement EMRs in public health offices, and also received about $900,000 for a matching grant program to help private practices cover the costs of starting EMR systems. So far, 122 New Mexico physicians in 36 communities are in the process of implementing electronic medical records in their practices through the grant program. Dan Derksen, MD, president of the New Mexico Medical Society, said his organization is firmly behind the adoption and use of electronic medical records. “We backed EMR bills in the last session of the legislature and will continue to do so,” Derksen said. “We feel electronic medical records are an essential ingredient in improving the quality and efficiency of the delivery of medical care.” ■ More at – Presbyterian Anesthesia Associates, a physician-owned anesthesiologist group with 45 board-certified physicians, has gone live with a centrally hosted practice management and billing platform in an effort to improve its operational and financial results. “Aside from the traditional billCHARLOTTE, NC ing obstacles faced by any medical practice, our specialty faces constant regulatory change and oversight that has required us to now use a new kind of practice management service that we feel will enable us to better navigate what is an increasingly challenging reimbursement environment for anesthesiologists,” said Frank Stranick, MD, a member of PAA’s governing committee. PAA is using technology from Watertown, Mass.-based athenahealth, a provider of Internetbased business services for physician practices. Lindsay Mello, anesthesia service manager at athenahealth, says the software-enabled service’s knowledge-base of payer reimbursement process rules act as a proactive utility that guides clinic staff away from making billing mistakes that impact operational performance. PAA provides both anesthesiology and pain management services in the Charlotte metro-area region with multiple community practice locations. More at HealthcareITNews.com e ●Connect: aNeStHeSIa 0908 HealthcareITNews.com e ●Connect: NeWMeXICo 0908 New Mexico physicians will have greater access to EMRs thanks to a $900,000 grant. e ● Connect: aLLSCrIPtS 0908 http://www.HealthcareITNews.com http://HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=9897 http://www.allscripts.com http://HealthcareITNews.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=9862 http://www.allscripts.com http://www.healthcareitnews.com/eConnect.cms?id=9945
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