Fedok Plastic Surgery and Laser Center Delights Patients and Increases Efficiency With the Easy-To-Use ModMed® Plastic Surgery Suite
Case Study
The Goals
- Select an intuitive desktop and iPad EHR interface
- Streamline and organize note taking
- Enhance the physician-patient interaction
- Increase efficiency and speed of documentation
Key Benefits Experienced
- Saved time due to plastic surgery content in EHR
- Eliminate the need for time-consuming system customization
- Improved quality of time spent with patients
- Streamlined operations with an all-in-one EHR and Practice Management platform
Plastic surgery EHR and practice management systems streamline business operations.
“EMA and Practice Management are the essential center of our practice. The iPad EHR eliminates typing in front of the patient, and EMA automatically generates a well-organized, professional note. The scheduling and financial aspects are also easy for staff to navigate, and Modernizing Medicine continues to be exceedingly responsive to suggestions and queries.”
‒ FRED G. FEDOK, MD, FACS
EMA™: The Right Plastic Surgery EHR Choice for an AAFPRS Past President
Fedok Plastic Surgery and Laser Center, located in Alabama, is an innovative, thriving cosmetic surgery practice serving Gulf Shores, Mobile, Pensacola and the surrounding areas. Additionally, Dr. Fred G. Fedok served as president of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS), assuming the role in 2016. The AAFPRS is the world’s largest specialty association for facial plastic surgery, representing more than 2,700 facial plastic and reconstructive surgeons throughout the world.
Dr. Fedok and the entire Fedok Plastic Surgery and Laser Center team work to provide personalized treatment for their patients, with help from Modernizing Medicine’s state-of-the-art plastic surgery software. This suite includes the plastic surgery EHR, EMA™, as well as the integrated Practice Management (PM) system.
A Careful Comparison of EHR Alternatives
In 2016 the practice conducted an extensive search for the right EHR system for their busy office. According to Dr. Fedok, “I transitioned from a university-based practice to a solo facial plastic surgery cosmetic practice in 2016. I experienced several large institutional systems as well as one of the leading plastic surgery EHR systems at the time, but I preferred a solution that offered more functionality. With starting a brand new practice, I wanted everything to have a new, clean look and feel.”
“We narrowed our search down to three vendors, including Modernizing Medicine, and of those three, Modernizing Medicine seemed to be on the right track. We were impressed with the interfaces on both the desktop and the iPad. EMA generates logical, professional
and neat notes. They are just more attractive and more organized than those in other systems I’ve seen. EMA was what we were looking for.”
According to Dr. Fedok, “Even now some of the other EHR systems out there have a bureaucratic look to them and include lots of information that is not helpful. While most of the other systems can be customized by specialty, by selecting Modernizing Medicine’s plastic surgery software, we eliminated the time that we would have spent customizing the system.”
The practice also turned to third party validation to make the right choice. “We looked around at quite a few surveys and Modernizing Medicine was consistently number one,” Dr. Fedok explained.
A Competitive Advantage With Patients
Along with meeting the needs of the busy facial plastic surgery practice, Dr. Fedok was also focused on his patients throughout the plastic surgery EHR system selection process. According to him, “The death of patient-focused clinical care is the desktop. Too often physicians have their backs to patients and end up spending more than 80 percent of the visit looking at a desktop computer.”
EMA is available on a native iPad application and addressed this concern head on, allowing Dr. Fedok to focus on his patients and not typing into a desktop. “The iPad interface just works,” he enthused. “Patients think it’s really techy and it actually leaves a very favorable impression with them.”
Dr. Fedok uploads before and after pictures to the iPad and extensively uses Apple Pencil to draw on images and show patients where incisions will be made. “It’s quicker, and I think that it’s even more interactive than just talking. It really engages the patient and makes the experience more tangible for them,” added Dr. Fedok.
A Chance to Streamline Processes
Not only was the patient experience important, but he wanted to make sure that his new EHR system wouldn’t reduce the practice efficiency. As Dr. Fedok explained, “Most EHR systems slow you down. With EMA this has not been the case. I can dictate into the iPad and finalize the note much faster than before.”
“If you look at the whole clinical process, previously I would examine the patient, dictate a note, wait to receive the note back from transcription, make edits, sign and then I would be done,” he explained. “Now I dictate into the iPad, edit in real time, if needed, and the note is done. The resulting consult note can be faxed directly from the iPad and looks like a well organized professional document. In the past, my notes were pretty cryptic to save time. With EMA, my notes are detailed and thorough.”
Of course selecting the right plastic surgery EHR system was only one part of streamlining their clinical processes. Training and implementation were also critical to success. According to Dr. Fedok, “The training provided by Modernizing Medicine was meticulous, enabling us to be back to ‘work-able speed’ quickly.”
An Integrated Plastic Surgery EHR And Practice Management Solution
The Fedok Plastic Surgery and Laser Center not only implemented EMA, but they were also one of the very first beta customers for Practice Management. The system has been enhanced dramatically since it was first introduced. And, as Dr. Fedok noted, “Modernizing Medicine continues to be exceedingly responsive to suggestions and queries.”