Six Questions with Digestive Health Specialists

We had the chance to sit down with Mary Igo, Chief Executive Officer and Cindy Fruge, Director of Finance at Digestive Health Specialists and asked them a few questions about their experiences and outcomes with using gMed’s gastroenterology-specific suite of products. Continue reading to see what they shared.

gMed, a Modernizing Medicine company: Can you give us some background on Digestive Health Specialists?

Mary Igo: The very first gastroenterologist in Tacoma, Wash., started Digestive Health Specialists in 1972. Today, our practice is recognized as the leading gastroenterological practice in its area comprised of over 40 providers and a staff of 350 across its eight clinic locations and six endoscopy centers. Given our success, the management team knew we needed a better EHR system in place that would allow us to continue to set the standard for optimal care in addition to being prepared for upcoming government mandates.

How did your group decide that switching to gGastro was the right choice?

Mary: After evaluating numerous systems, the team at Digestive Health Specialists made the decision to switch to gGastro, gMed’s gastroenterology-specific EHR system and endoscopy report writer (ERW) along with their practice management system, gPM. We had been using a very outdated system that did not encompass true EHR functionality nor was it tailored to our specialty. It was basically an electronic filing system containing unorganized data, which made searching for patient information difficult and time consuming.

We began researching other systems and discovered a few practices in our area had been using gGastro. We quickly learned that this intuitive system would help prepare us for the next phase of government data requirements while taking our practice to the next level, from both technology and patient care standpoints. We implemented both gGastro and gPM in 2014 and have been experiencing the benefits ever since.

How has an all-in-one suite increased efficiencies and help eliminate redundancies?

Mary: The elimination of redundant data entry has streamlined workflow and save time, which has been a critical benefit not only for the practice but also for our patients. In the past, a patient could be asked if they had allergies, for example, multiple times. Now, all of the information is entered once and is accessible in the patient chart from any of our locations. This efficiency provides our patients with confidence that we are prepared to care for them and aids in providing a positive experience through check in to check out.

Have you experienced financial improvements in your practice?

Mary: In addition to improved processes, we have all also experienced significant financial improvements since implementing gMed’s suite of solutions. Due to more efficient processes along with having the ability to shift staff focus to more productive areas of the practice, we saved $445,000 in 2015. Also, automated coding and real-time billing decrease turnaround time for payments received.

How has gInsights helped your practice? For some context, gInsights is a comprehensive analytical reporting tool, which generates detailed, easy-to-understand digital reports that quickly analyze their performance.

Cindy Fruge: With gInsights, I have the ability to manipulate data based on the specific criteria we’d like to know, which simplifies our reporting and saves me time. For example, I had a physician request a report on all capsule endoscopies completed in 2016. I was able to login to gInsights, select the specific CPT code, run a report by provider and location for the year and view the total encounters to date for that procedure. gInsights gives me the ability to drill down to the detailed information that we don’t necessarily see on a daily basis and allows me to look at our performance more efficiently.

In order to keep a continuous pulse on our performance, there are certain reports that we easily run on a daily basis. Those reports include prior day charges, no shows, accounts receivables and referring physicians. We also utilize the E&M code tabs occasionally to understand where our distribution is and how our practice looks compared to others. gInsights is an invaluable tool that helps us to understand the clinical, financial and operational aspects of the practice.

What would you share with a practice considering to make a switch?

Mary: It’s invaluable that gMed is committed to keeping their products up-to- date and one of the top EHR systems according to Black Book rankings. We do not see another product suite being able to do what gMed does so efficiently for a gastroenterology practice. It’s been a great experience thus far.

Key Benefits

• Gastroenterology-specific electronic health records (EHR) and practice management systems by gMed integrate seamlessly
• All-in-one suite increases efficiencies and eliminates redundancies
• Streamlined workflow enhances patient experience
• Detailed analytics reporting increases productivity