Mimimal Disruption (A short learning curve with no down time)
Every practicing physician has developed a comfortable method of documenting patient care. In a paper-based office, this usually means dictating notes which are later transcribed and reviewed before signing, or by handwriting notes on paper (either personally by the physician or by a medical assistant in the exam room). These notes are then filed in a standard patient chart along with other medical information, and manually retrieved by office staff when needed. While it may not always be the most efficient method, a mode of practice is established that is comfortable and time-honored for the physician. In multi-physician practices, where some doctors are more comfortable with technology than others, an EMR solution that demands complete and absolute electronic conversion is disruptive and profoundly obtrusive to physicians who are comfortable and satisfied with the status quo.

Many EMR systems require a physician to dramatically alter the flow of information within his or her practice by requiring data entry into software programs; this is an entirely new interface to which the doctor is unaccustomed, and which is often far less efficient than the previous method of documentation. Most doctors object to such a dramatic change in how they practice; accordingly, we created eMRimaging™ to allow physicians to maintain their paper-based data entry system, but to have the flexibility to allow for computer data entry if desired. eMRimaging™ creates a total electronic patient record package that includes all manual and electronic documentation.

A major disadvantage of EMR systems can be the initial disruption to a practice during the training and implementation phase. Complicated interfaces and data-entry programs require extensive training and demand inordinate physician attention and oversight during the integration phase. Other EMR systems require hours, days, or even weeks of physician and staff training to merely return to their former level of efficiency and patient volume. In a market where efficiency equals revenue, downtime and disruption are unacceptable and are often the prohibitive factors to implementation of an EMR system.

eMRimaging™ was designed to require the absolute smallest learning curve for program proficiency. Because the physician and support staff continue their normal workflow patterns for the daily tasks of medical documentation, the training process is completed in less than one hour, without disruption to the practice.

The bottom line is that an EMR system should not force a change in the way a physician wants to practice medicine. Physicians are often more comfortable with paper, and as it still plays a critical role in a practice, an EMR system should provide the flexibility to readily incorporate paper documentation. eMRimaging™ provides such a solution: it incorporates paper seamlessly, it is flexible enough to meet the varying needs of everyone within a medical practice, and it does not force a total digital conversion that often interrupts a physician's modus operandi. More than often, physicians are compromising their mode of practice with database EMR systems on the market today. That is why we developed an imaging-based EMR system that puts the control back into your hands.