FORT COLLINS. CO – When Daniel Griffin, MD, established his internal medicine practice in Fort Collins, Colo., in 1999, he believed that electronic health records were the key to quality and efficiency in medical practice.
Now, almost eight years later, Griffin’s practice – Alpenglow Medical – has been recognized for that early commitment with a 2006 Davies Award in the ambulatory care category from the Healthcare Information and Management Sys-tems Society. Griffin will receive his award on Feb. 27 at the HIMSS07 Annual Conference & Exhibition in New Orleans.
“I think it’s nice that there is a program like the Davies Awards that encourages the adoption of EHRs,” said Griffin. “This kind of public recognition will promote information technology in the physician’s office and help to improve the quality of care.”
Joining Alpenglow Medical as 2006 Davies Award winners in ambulatory care are Cardiology of Tulsa (Okla.) and Atlanta-based Piedmont Physicians Group. All three groups will be honored at the HIMSS07 Awards & Recognition Banquet.
“The Davies ambulatory care awards recognize a mature implementation of healthcare IT,” explained David Collins, manager of the Davies Awards program. “The award committee looks for physician practices that have used IT to change their workflow and have streamlined care of their patients. They also note when IT has given a practice a real return on investment.”
Collins said that many former winners of the Davies Award sit on the awards committee, and can therefore recognize those attributes that set an extraordinary IT implementation apart.
“These award winners are a model for the industry,” Collins said. “They have to be doing something really well to attract the attention of the awards committee.”
Alpenglow Medical is unusual in that the practice did not transition from paper to electronic medical records, but began service as a completely electronic solo practice. Griffin decided to implement the Praxis EMR by Infor-Med after doing extensive research and visiting other practices to see the technology in use.
Griffin had some experience with electronic health records before opening his practice. He trained at New York University School of Medicine and spent his residency at the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, both medical centers that employ extensive healthcare IT.
“When I opened the practice I wanted to use IT to provide the highest level of care, which meant developing and implementing practice guidelines for value criteria,” Griffin said. The data appear to support Griffin’s efforts. An analysis of Alpenglow’s Medicare fee-for-service population data revealed that Alpenglow patients have higher rates for diabetes and mammography screening than both Colorado statewide and national rates.
As for practice efficiency, Alpenglow patients enjoy an average wait time of approximately two minutes. External observers calculated that patient value added time at Alpenglow was 91 percent. Griffin says this is critical to keeping patients satisfied.
“Using EHRs to save transcription dollars isn’t enough,” Griffin said. “You have to ask how the EHR will make your practice more efficient. Everyday you need to focus on how the EHR can improve the process for patients and staff.”
Davies Award winners like Alpenglow can serve as models – and information resources – for other practices considering adoption of healthcare IT, said Collins.
“The Davies Award really is a best practices model of how to make healthcare IT a reality at the practice level,” Collins said. “The winners have all overcome challenges to get where they are today. They demonstrate that practices might have setbacks during implementation but can still make IT work for them.”
