Schweiger Dermatology Group Improves Business Operations for its 150-Provider Group by Implementing EMA® EHR System

Cloud-based dermatology software has helped increase efficiency and standardize clinical operations.

Schweiger Dermatology Group is a leading provider of medical and cosmetic dermatology with more than 50 locations and over 150 providers throughout New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Under the leadership of Chief Medical Officer and Founder Dr. Eric Schweiger, the practice has become one of the fastest-growing dermatology businesses in the Northeast. 

Due to their rapid growth, Dr. Schweiger and his team needed an intuitive dermatology EHR system that would take administrative burdens away from their clinicians, while also effectively managing the requirements of a growing practice with multiple locations. The group selected EMA®, the award-winning* dermatology EHR system from Modernizing Medicine®.

Kelly Poole, director of clinical operations, discusses how the cloud-based dermatology software has helped increase efficiency and standardize clinical operations. 

GIVE THE PROVIDERS WHAT THEY WANT

We first discovered EMA when we acquired a handful of offices that used the dermatology EHR. The rest of our practices were on another popular platform that wasn’t user friendly. The physicians that used EMA had such loyalty to the dermatology software, so we allowed them to continue using it. We evaluated how each system performed and ultimately made the decision to transition all providers to EMA, including future acquisitions. 

EMA is more intuitive than our previous system and ready to use right out of the box. Our previous EHR required a tremendous amount of work building templates and entering dermatology billing codes. EMA is equipped with ICD-10 codes and doesn’t require you to build templates. 

Because we have so many providers, everyone wanted something different that would make their workflow easier. EMA is customizable to each individual user, so we had staff dedicated to making changes within the system to meet the various needs of our providers. EMA offers up their most common plans and diagnoses, so every provider essentially feels that EMA is customized to them. 

EMA has streamlined cross-practice management, including data, coding and reporting. Also, having the flexibility to access patient data nearly any time, at any location, has helped make our providers more efficient and empowers them to provide better patient care. 

PREPARE FOR A SMOOTH EHR IMPLEMENTATION

There was definitely a lot of apprehension around wanting our EHR implementation to go smoothly. With the help of Modernizing Medicine’s EHR training team and a committed staff, we successfully implemented EMA at over 40 locations. The educators were extremely helpful, took the time to understand the nuances of our workflow, and incorporated that knowledge into the workshops and onsite support. They became an extension of us and were wonderful to work with. 

To kick off our EHR training, we created a detailed, task-driven project plan consisting of all the things we needed to do to prepare for the transition. Then, we grouped a couple of offices together to form EHR implementation groups. We closed those offices, brought them to a central location and held a two-day EMA workshop. Because our first 3 groups went so well, we doubled our class sizes to 5-6 offices at a time, with our largest class being 60 staff members. 

After the workshop was completed, the providers and staff went back to work as normal, using the previous EHR system for one week until they went live with EMA the following week. Modernizing Medicine educators were onsite for go-live, and every provider had dedicated onsite support. They had a reduced patient schedule, so they could focus on learning the system without long wait times. It only took about one week for the majority of our providers to get back to a normal schedule. 

I think the transition went so smoothly because we really spent time on the first two implementation groups to understand that needed to happen, and we paid attention to lessons learned, so we didn’t repeat mistakes. Now, it’s like we can implement EMA at our new locations with our eyes closed. It’s so easy to teach someone EMA, and our medical assistants adapted to it faster than our previous system. We saved time and energy in training and onboarding new staff members. 

SAVE TIME AND STREAMLINE WORKFLOW

Since implementing our new dermatology software, we’ve streamlined our workflow and eliminated redundant work, so we can allocate staff to other tasks. Many of our providers and medical assistants feel the notes in EMA are easier to create and close in a timely manner compared to our previous system. Also, EMA is cloud based, so we’ve experienced a significant increase in speed. One of our high-volume providers has her scribe document for her, and then it takes her only a few seconds to review and finalize the note. She used to spend a few hours at the end of every day finalizing notes, and that extra time is eliminated thanks to EMA. 

The biggest time saver is the built-in dermatology billing codes that EMA automatically suggests. We went from a denial rate of 9.25 percent down to 6 percent because our notes and coding are more comprehensive with EMA. 

Modernizing Medicine continues to update and improve their dermatology EHR. For example, we recently began using modmed® Kiosk, so patients can fill out their paperwork using an iPad at check-in. This functionality has proven to be a time saver, saving the medical assistants from collecting the data themselves. Having EMA has greatly improved our daily flow, and we continue to appreciate this modern, innovative dermatology EHR system. 

*2019 Black Book™

Kelly Poole, BSN, RN

Director of Clinical Operations