Premier Dermatology Increases Patient Interaction and Is Prepared for MIPS by using ModMed® Dermatology’s Suite of Solutions

Dermatology software solutions equip 15 provider practice for changing healthcare landscape.

Background

When a number of independent dermatology practices merged to form Premier Dermatology in 2014, one practice had been utilizing Modernizing Medicine’s cloud-based dermatology EMR system, EMA™, for their clinical documentation. Given the time saving benefits and increased patient engagement EMA enables along with value-based healthcare performance tracking, there was no question that the group would continue using it. Dr. Brad Abrams, dermatologist and Mohs surgeon at the practice, shares, “EMA is extremely intuitive and you can tell that a dermatologist programmed it because everything flows. With just a few taps, I’m done. The time that EMA saves me is allowing me to spend more time with my patients.”

Today, with 15 providers across five locations, Premier Dermatology has expanded usage of Modernizing Medicine’s suite of dermatology software solutions to include EMA, dermatology Practice Management, Analytics, Pathology and Telehealth. Tom McNeil, Chief Executive Officer, explains, “The benefits of the dermatology EMR continue and now we can take advantage of the modmed Dermatology suite of products, which has automated processes and helped from a workflow perspective. Our staff doesn’t have to move from system to system, and patient information such as pathology reports, follow-up appointments, account balances, etc. are now easily accessible. It also makes our patients feel more confident in our ability to care for them because they’re not being asked multiple times ‘What did the doctor advise? When would you like to come back?’ We already know. It gives the patient satisfaction and also gives us more efficiency.”

Automated Processes Improve Outcomes

modmed Dermatology was programmed by practicing dermatologists to provide seamless, automated processes that can improve practice efficiency and ultimately can improve outcomes. Both the staff and patients at Premier Dermatology have experienced the benefits of this cloud, mobile and touch technology.

“A seamless, all in one system eliminates repetitive, needless steps and allows our staff and providers to focus on the practice and our patients. Everyone from the front desk, to the clinical team, to the billing staff really have seen an improvement. For example, before we had Modernizing Medicine’s dermatology Practice Management a provider would enter patient follow up information into EMA while also writing it on an encounter form or check out sheet so the front desk staff knew when to schedule their next appointment or what tests to order. Now that information is automatically pre-populated and easily accessible in Practice Management,” said Tom.

“In addition, the system allows for more streamlined tracking of claims and separates out the patient responsibility for self pay or cosmetic products and services that aren’t billed to insurance. Those charges can be worked independently, tracked and sent straight to the patient statement, which again is another time saving, automated process.”

The Pathology module within the dermatology EMR, EMA, has streamlined Premier Dermatology’s pathology process and significantly decreased the turnaround time for results. Dr. Eli Piatigorsky, dermatopathologist at the practice, shares, “Being able to have direct access to the patient’s chart gives me a remarkable opportunity to diagnose with specificity in most cases. Any type of clinical information, such as medical history or morphology of the legion, is literally a click away, which in many circumstances is crucial to providing accurate diagnoses. The moment we receive the slides from the outside laboratory, our turnaround time can be less than one hour. The diagnosis is entered in the pathology software and is instantly available in the patient’s chart.”

A Healthy Dermatology Practice

Premier Dermatology is prepared for MIPS by using Analytics, modmed Dermatology’s data analysis tool, which identifies and tracks key performance indicators to help improve efficiency.

“When running a medical practice, you are only as good as the data you can review to benchmark your performance; whether that’s the clinical, operational or financial information. We were really interested in Modernizing Medicine’s Analytics platform so we became an alpha user for the software. This enabled us to collaborate with Modernizing Medicine’s product development team to help create a platform that truly suits the needs of specialty physicians. With updated Analytics, I can show our partners real-time benchmarking within our group and also compare with CMS and other Modernizing Medicine client data, an important component to succeed in MIPS,” shares Tom.

“Analytics allows us to drill down to the specifics such as how many botox patients we saw six months ago that haven’t had an appointment in the last three months. Now that we’re using Practice Management, that data can be tied in as well so we can look into the future. Analytics also has useful melanoma reporting capabilities that compiles all the data in one report so we can make sure that we’re not missing patients and improve our clinical performance.”

Patient Engagement Matters

modmed Dermatology enhances the care patients receive along with facilitating the patient/doctor interaction. Dr. Brad Abrams utilizes EMA’s native iPad application, which allows him to stay engaged with his patients throughout the entire visit.

“As I’m talking with my patients and walking them through their skin care regimen, I’m able to get to know them better on a personal level. I’m also able to look up medications, for example, right from my iPad and I never have to leave the exam room or turn my back to the patient. Modernizing Medicine is bringing back what medicine used to be 30 years ago by fostering the patient/doctor relationship,” said Dr. Abrams.

Tom also shared, “With modmed Dermatology, our patients have had better experiences and trust that we are taking care of them because their information is readily at our fingertips. We look at everything that Modernizing Medicine is bringing to the dermatology product line and it just furthers our trust in them as a company. We share a common goal: to be there for the patients.”