GI Specialists of Georgia Improves Efficiency at Their ASCs With Help from gGastro® Endoscopy Report Writer

Gastroenterology software helps GI ASC achieve its goals

Established in 2007, GI Specialists of Georgia consists of eight office locations and three ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) conveniently located in the Northwest Atlanta area. Their board-certified physicians treat all disorders of the digestive tract, liver and pancreas and specialize in a variety of treatments, including colonoscopies.

In an effort to monitor quality improvement initiatives and establish efficient workflows at their ASCs, the group implemented Modernizing Medicine® Gastroenterology’s gGastro® Endoscopy Report Writer (ERW). Nichole Burke, ASC clinical director, shared her experience with using the gastroenterology software.

REMAIN EFFICIENT AND ON TOP OF QUALITY MEASURES

gGastro ERW is the most user-friendly endowriter I’ve ever used. The gastroenterology software is easy to navigate, which helps save time on writing endoscopy reports while providing detailed quality measure data.

The Endoscopy Report Writer enhances our workflow, keeps us organized and helps us remain focused on the patient versus the documentation. The gastroenterology software prompts you through the questions, so our staff can quickly identify what is needed and seamlessly move through pre- and post-operative care. The endowriter won’t let you progress unless certain tasks are completed, so our staff can quickly identify what is missing, which helps accelerate our workflow.

Our providers love gGastro ERW because essentially they’re just filling in the blanks, but they also have the opportunity to free text and add or delete from the templated note. Also, the system is so easy to use that new providers can quickly learn how to use the gastroenterology software with the help of Modernizing Medicine Gastroenterology’s training programs and video tutorials.

From an administrative perspective, the Endoscopy Report Writer is helpful in monitoring quality measures and establishing efficient workflows. I quality check the reports for measures and can abstract certain information out of the notes, if needed. I also find the time tracker feature extremely beneficial to determine our baseline for success, and identify areas in our workflow that need improvement. For example, our patient satisfaction survey results revealed that patients felt they waited too long in pre-op. If we didn’t have the time tracker, it would take days to evaluate and assess the bottleneck. gGastro ERW makes it possible to complete a workflow assessment in just one day.

AN ENDOWRITER THAT THINKS LIKE YOU DO

gGastro ERW is GI specific and comes with built-in gastroenterology content. I’ve worked in other ASCs that utilized other endoscopy report writer systems, which were cumbersome because they weren’t developed for GI. gGastro ERW has a unique interface that puts key information on a single screen, enabling us to streamline our workflow and remain efficient throughout the day. The gastroenterology software makes it possible to generate a wide variety of detailed reports and notes in just minutes. Procedure notes, discharge notes and referring physician letters can be completed with just a few clicks.

We tend to document repetitive details, such as bowel sounds. By having those items in the favorites section, we can document efficiently and consistently because we already know what we’re looking for, and the Endoscopy Report Writer prompts us through the patient assessment. We had several patients complain of dental damage, so now we enter the dental hygiene prior to the procedure, so we have a baseline moving forward. The gastroenterology software enables us to perform a more in-depth assessment, and there is more consistency amongst documentation.

GOALS ACHIEVED

Modernizing Medicine Gastroenterology has been great to work with, and their team is always responsive. The gastroenterology software technology and the people at Modernizing Medicine Gastroenterology have helped us improve the patient experience and establish efficient workflows, while being able to monitor quality improvement initiatives with ease. We are proud to have a warm and welcoming environment for our patients and their families, and gGastro ERW has contributed to our success.

Nichole Burke

ASC CLINICAL DIRECTOR