Practice Background
Chotiner Family Healthcare is a one doctor
practice that got its start more than 10 years ago. With eight
dedicated and experienced staff, Chotiner successfully serves
upwards of 7,000 patients annually within the Rockwell, NC
community. It is such a locally respected healthcare institution
that it has received the key to the City of Rockwell.
The Challenge
Not long after the practice began, Dr. Chotiner and his wife, Martie, knew they needed a paperless system. They were quickly tiring of lost charts and wanted the added convenience of working with charts from home. They also knew a fully integrated system was essential to the productivity of their practice.
The Results
As an integrated EHR/PM, Alteer Office® was the obvious choice- and remains so ten years later. "We looked at other systems and, even today, I've yet to see anything more concise or easy to use. So much of AO is a click of a mouse and it's done," says Martie Chotiner, practice administrator.
Just as designed, Alteer Office easily adapted to the workflow and needs of each of the staff, providing the shortcuts, reminders and functionality they have loved for more than a decade. Staff burnout has decreased dramatically as a result. "There's nothing better than to hear that your employees enjoy their jobs-except, maybe, to hear a patient say, 'You all are on the ball. Thanks for caring enough to get me this so quickly.' You can't put a dollar amount on that kind of thing."
Practice Management
To the regular envy of Martie's CPC colleagues, AO has vastly simplified the charge process, eliminating the need for multiple clicks, changing systems or researching codes. "It's all there," she says, including the ability to easily check that the doctor has properly documented charges.
Sherie Martin, Chotiner's billing and office manager, loves that AO enables her to keep notes on the status of claims and patient collections; that she can see at a glance the status of payments; and that AO's status buckets keep her on top of which claims need to be worked.
This billing system efficiency is why the practice feels AO was a "huge financial win" for them. AO's features not only save the practice money in overhead, but help generate money because they no longer miss charges while rushing to get the next patient. The transition from billing to encounter note/lab/radiology/pathology is smooth and quick, helping the practice to save thousands annually. According to Martie, "The billing/practice management is simply second to none." The practice enjoys an A/R rate of under 12 days, with minimal unclean claims.
Clinical
For Dr. Chotiner, the templates of Alteer
Office continue to enable a thorough but streamlined method of
care. His templates contain extensive information that provide
helpful prompts, particularly when he is extremely busy. He finds
his patients are comforted that he asks numerous questions so that
he can better pinpoint his diagnosis.
His quality of care is improved by the template prompting, especially during well child visits when immunizations, health and safety change with each stage of development. "You know you've got something wonderful when a family practice gets transfer after transfer from pediatrician offices!" It's a great source of pride for the Chotiner staff. "We went into this business to heal patients and let them know we are here for THEM. AO allows us that joy."
In addition, one of Martie's favorite features is the ability to add documentation that automatically populates when the doctor chooses a particular code; this comes in especially handy with their in-house labs: when Dr. Chotiner selects a lab, the encounter note is automatically populated with specifics regarding the type of equipment used and what analyses are being tested. The Chotiners know this level of detail would take forever without an advanced solution like Alteer Office at their disposal.
The Future
The practice has experienced numerous upgrades over the years; Chotiner staff happily report that each upgrade has been smooth and productive. The practice has most recently upgraded to the AO's Meaningful Use version-Alteer Office 8.0- and anticipates attestation by the end of 2012.
