The Allergy Clinic of Garland - Garland, Texas

Market: Physician practices Problem: Needed an electronic medical record system that allowed extensive medical history to be accessed at each patient visit Solution: NextGen® electronic medical record system: Microsoft Windows NT and SQL Server: ActiveX Result: A flexible, comprehensive clinical system that speeds communication, makes information easily accessible and improves quality

The Allergy Clinic of Garland, Texas, has taken information technology seriously for more than two decades. Now a three-physician practice, the clinic started with a computerized accounting package in 1977, adding examination room terminals, electronic appointment scheduling, prescription writing and records of allergy skin test and vaccine data by the mid-1980s. "If you are in the lead, you have to stay one step ahead of the competition--and that's basically where we've been for 15 years. We're still trying to find ways to improve our systems," says Donald Senter, M.D., one of the physicians. He estimates that daily productivity is in the top three percent among allergy clinics nationwide. Several years ago, the Allergy Clinic moved to the NextGen® electronic medical record system, a scalable, native Microsoft Windows client/server application. Its capabilities include prescription writing, referral management, patient information and drug interaction modules, among others. Being able to collect, track and easily access targeted patient information is important to allergy specialists. "Allergy problems are ongoing and affects nearly all systems of the body, so the physician needs immediate access to a tremendous amount of previous medical information when he sees the patient," Senter says. Using the NextGen Template Builder's user-definable fields, the Allergy Clinic has customized its medical record system to meet its specialized needs and has the tools to make additional changes quickly. NextGen also provides state-of-the-art template import/export capabilities based on ActiveX technology, which the practice has combined with the strength and flexibility of the Microsoft SQL Server relational database. The Allergy Clinic uses NextGen EMR to document regular checkups, which account for 65 percent of the office visits, and is expanding its use to include new patient visits, sick visits and their follow-ups. NextGen has produced better chart documentation; more concise, easier to read letters to referring physicians; and reduced paper. "I'll bet I've had 40 patient visits this week in which I never wrote a single word on paper," he says. And with clinical information automatically posted to the practice's accounting software, a charge slip is ready by the time the patient walks from the exam room to the front desk, saving staff time and making information available immediately. But one of the greatest benefits, Senter says, is that "with better charts and better communication, you also have better quality care."