“Our rounding program is helping patient care,” says Dr. Rosenbaum. “It’s the only way we round on my campus now. It’s pretty useful; the simplicity is what sold me on it, and it works concurrently with the billing [software].”
The Fredericksburg Hospitalist Group relies on communications software to alert primary care physicians when their patients are admitted and discharged. “Most [community] physicians have access to the hospital’s computer system,” explains Dr. Kin. “By our alerting them that their patient has been admitted, they can access labs, our dictations—pretty much everything. The idea is that with automatic notification, we give them a heads-up; this is a real help to us.”
Here is an overview of IT solutions that include hospitalist-specific features to spark your imagination on how technology might change your day-to-day job—and probably will.
David J. Brailer, MD, Ph, national coordinator for health information technology at the Department of Health and Human Services, will be a keynote speaker at this year’s Annual Meeting in Dallas at the Gaylord Texan Resort. Dr. Brailer is a recognized leader in the strategy and financing of quality and efficiency in healthcare. He focuses on health information technology and health systems management.
For more information on his address at the Annual Meeting, visit www.hospitalmedicine.org and click the “Events” tab on the left-hand menu.
Hospital Management System (HMS) (BMA Enterprises, Inc.)
A Web-based charge capture and primacy care physician communication system designed specifically for hospitalists, “HMS is a single product with various configuration options,” explains Dennis C. Wiltshire, president.
The charge capture software includes warning messages that alert the user to duplicate charges or missed charges. “An obvious problem with hospitalists is the way their shifts work; one rolls off the shift and another takes over the patient load,” says Wiltshire. “Each physician who sees a patient will see the patient roster with warnings, etc. For example, if, on Tuesday, Dr. Johnson admits the patient and enters the charges, and Dr. Wilson sees the same patient on Thursday and enters his charges, the missed day of service shows up. You then have to check and see what happened on Wednesday.”
As with their competitors’ charge capture programs, billing logic is used to minimize lost charges, and billing files can be created electronically.
Part of HMS’ charge capture package is a feature that allows the customer to create a “favorite list” of ICD9s and CPT codes. “The group administrator informs us of their most frequently used codes,” explains Wiltshire. Those codes are added to the favorites list. “The favorites are group-wide.”
HMS also offers a solution for built-in communication with PCPs upon their patients’ admission and discharge, along with a unique follow-up system for discharged patients.
“As soon as an admission or discharge code is entered, you’ll see a screen for additional comments,” explains Wiltshire. “The PCP information is already in the system—it’s entered upon admission—and the program generates a fax at our site. The fax is sent with customized, pertinent information.”
Why fax? “There’s an issue with e-mail: It’s not secure,” says Wiltshire. “And most PCPs are familiar and comfortable with getting faxes.”
As for follow-up after discharge, says Wiltshire, “It’s a tickler system. Upon discharge, the physician can elect whether to create a follow-up system. It might be a reminder to check the patient’s X-rays or lab results or that an appointment was made with their PCP. You can select these options to create a to-do list, and the patient won’t leave the patient roster until the list is completed.”