Case Study: Dragon Medical One – Charleston GI

Charleston GI, the first and largest gastroenterology practice in the Lowcountry, consists of three physician practices and two nationally certified and state-licensed endoscopy centers. Its 11 physicians provide the highest level of medical care in the field of gastroenterology for up to 200 patients a day. As advocates of both patient-focused care and detailed documentation, Charleston GI providers often spent evenings and weekends creating patient notes with dictation on digital recorders. Now, with cloud-based Dragon Medical One, Charleston GI providers spend less time creating documentation and still achieve their high standards of patient care and documentation, while also supporting practice viability and physician satisfaction.

• Shift from paper to digital documentation • Physicians spend evenings and weekends creating documentation • Slow documentation turnaround

• Dragon Medical One • PowerMic

• Real-time documentation improves patient service through quick access to appointment summaries and speeds insurance approvals, revenue cycles, and payments • Voice-enabled EHR saves $80,000 annually by liberating staff and reducing transcription costs • Efficient documentation process boosts provider satisfaction

When Charleston GI moved from paper charts to gMed EMR, providers could access patient data from any location, and administrative and nursing staff contributed to patient exam documentation. Still, providers used transcription to complete narrative fields in the EHR. "We realized real-time speech recognition could deliver speed and accuracy to our providers, while we shortened documentation turnaround and reduced our documentation spend," says Tommy Punteney, Charleston GI Chief Operating Officer. "Dragon Medical One is exactly what we needed to improve our providers' EHR experience." A Dragon Medical One reseller delivered responsive service to Charleston GI throughout implementation and training - and still serves as a great resource for ongoing support. Clinicians swiftly adopted speech recognition for creating rich clinical notes directly in the EHR. "The product is so good out of the gate, there was virtually no learning curve," says Charleston GI gastroenterologist Dr. Nathan Shores. Charleston GI equipped every exam room and physician office with Dragon Medical One and a Nuance PowerMic. As a cloud-based solution, Dragon Medical One allows providers to access their unique voice profile and the solution's custom commands, AutoTexts, and vocabularies from any workstation - even at home.

Charleston GI providers have always prioritized documentation quality, understanding that only thorough content can adequately depict the patient condition. With GI patients, Shores says, a patient's description of symptoms is key to determining the best diagnosis and treatment plan. Dictation allows providers to create conversational notes and use their own words to record the exam evidence and analysis. By dictating patient notes immediately after patient visits, details are fresh in mind. "Poor notes were not an option for me and my fellow providers. The cost of transcription was worth it to maintain our documentation standards," says Shores. "Dragon Medical One is so accurate, I can create high-quality notes efficiently - in about 90 seconds after the patient visit. We've not only saved money but now we can spend our evenings with our families instead of catching up on documentation."

Dragon Medical One speeds the creation and distribution of patient information. Charleston GI providers complete the exam record so quickly, patients receive an appointment summary while they're checking out of the clinic. Patients' primary care physicians have a finished note in its entirety that same day, supporting timely communication to their referral market. Before, slower documentation turnaround times could delay authentication, slowing not only insurance approval of patient treatment but also revenue cycles. "Speech recognition helps us provide timely service to our patients and referring physicians - important factors for practice viability," says Punteney. "Plus, when notes are completed in real-time, we can submit charges sooner and see reimbursements more quickly."

With Dragon Medical One, Charleston GI left the inefficiencies and hassle of paper documentation behind while preserving its high standards to meet patients' needs. "With real-time speech recognition, we're still able to provide exceptional, patient-focused care and create documentation that thoroughly depicts the patient condition," says Punteney, "but our documentation spend and provider satisfaction have vastly improved."