KEOKUK, IA – Although James F. Holsinger, MD, was a late bloomer, enrolling in medical school at the age of 44, he proved to be a much earlier adopter of IT – using an EHR the day he opened his solo practice.

Holsinger’s story didn’t go unnoticed by HIMSS, which recognized him as one of the four finalists for the Davies Ambulatory Care Award.

 

Holsinger, now 60, opened his practice using an EHR from Austin-based e-MDs in 2003. “I have never done business without it,” he said.

 

“It is part of patient quality and part of good business,” Holsinger added.

 

“Our computer system never takes a vacation,” he said. “There is no 401K for our computer, no worker’s comp, never an accident, never lost data. So it is worth the investment for a solo doc.” 

 

Holsinger’s story is reminiscent of that of Kathleen Cecilia Arnold whose Diabetes Center was honored last year by HIMSS in the same category. Arnold opened the clinic in Ocean Spring, Miss., less than three months after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. “My story is an example of building an EHR clinic from the ground up in three weeks or less, without a lot of cash,” she said, noting that her clinic could be a model for others, and demonstrates that an EHR “doesn’t need to break the bank.”

 

Within a year of implementation, “I was out of the red,” she added.

 

As Holsinger sees it, “It didn’t make sense to me, seeing what my grandchildren could do with an iPhone, not to have an EHR.”

 

Holsinger, who has privileges at Keokuk Area Hospital, job shares with neurologist Philip Storm, MD, and employees six staff who are shared with itinerant physicians. He says the practice uses “every EHR functionality available.”

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his has helped the practice to participate in a pay-for-performance program at the highest level and exceed national benchmarks for diseases such as breast cancer and lymphoma through it participation in the Medicare Physician Quality Initiative, said Holsinger. 

 

On April 25, Holsinger passed the criteria for meaningful use, becoming the 54th individual in the country to receive their $18,000.  

 

Holsinger sees the meaningful use rewards as really having an impact on patient care. “Prevention is less expensive then treatment,” he added.