From the American Society of Health Informatics Managers (ASHIM)
Interviewed by Tom Criser, Published Sept 9, 2009 © ASHIM

Michael Q. Stearns, MD, CPC, CFPC™

President and CEO of Michael Q. Stearns, MD is a board certified neurologist and one of the more experienced physician health care informaticists in the nation. Solution is a Texas-based electronic health record and practice management software company. Michael Q. Stearns, MD is a member of the ASHIM's Health IT Industry Advisory Panel, the Health Information Technology Standards Panel, and the AAPC's Family Practice Steering Committee.

Interview Topics:
5 Great TIPS FOR EHR Conversion
Why EHR is so exciting to industry insiders
3 Ways to Assess Vendor After Sale Resources

The Interview

ASHIM: It looks like after years of HIT planning and discussions things are finally starting to move rapidly. How excited are you about the future of HIT and EHR?

Michael Q. Stearns, MD: I have been waiting for some time for things to finally start moving in such a positive way. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and related HIT efforts have the potential to change the healthcare industry in so many important ways that each day seems to bring new opportunities. I feel that by working together ASHIM, , and AAPC can provide leadership in critical areas. We are at the forefront and that is electrifying.

On the business side of EHR implementation, we have seen many practices convert to EHR and within 6 months they more than recapture their initial investment through more accurate coding so they are no longer leaving money on the table. It has been rewarding to see the combination of improvements in patient care, improved efficiencies in administration, and more accurate levels of reimbursement.

ASHIM: What are your recommendations for medical practices that are just starting to look into EHR?

Michael Q. Stearns, MD: The first step I suggest is to research the information that is available via your professional academy, society or college. Many have preformed fairly in depth evaluations of EHR products and companies, including features, usability, training, support, cost, and experiences of other physicians in your specialty. The American College of Medicine and the American Academy of Family Physicians are examples or two large organizations that have evaluated EHR product. These groups adhere to scientific methodologies and eliminate much of the bias that is often present in other sources of information.

Next, I would recommend evaluating the level of involvement the company has with standards, policy and certification organizations. I'm a big believer in companies who show they are deeply involved in the leadership of their industry. It shows a strong corporate culture when the executives are active in the industry by contributing their time and expertise to national and regional efforts to improve healthcare, including partnerships with academic centers.

As an example , our company, is in the process of developing educational and research partnering with several universities. Our goal is to help train HIT professionals and to lend our knowledge and experience to ongoing HIT and basic science research. I think this is an emerging trend, and something which our senior management team and board chairman David Winn, MD, FAAFP, is a logical next step for EHR companies.

Also, it is important to go visit several clinics that are set up and have gone through their learning curve. See what has worked for them and what still needs improvements. Most will be happy to share their successes and how they dealt with problems that emerged during their implementation process.

ASHIM: What else should one look for when deciding on a company?

Michael Q. Stearns, MD: There are many products out there which can fill many needs. I think it is essential to sit down with your prospective companies and discuss your specific specialty's needs. Go beyond a Power Point session and a canned presentation. Think ahead before the demo and ask the vendor to walk through typical documentation and work flow scenarios that occur in your office. See how well their tools mimic your experiences.

Given the incentives for EHR use in the stimulus package, make sure the vendor has the ability or a firm plan that will allow them to send and receive data required for physicians to become meaningful users.. Implementation and training is key to the success of any EHR go live. Assess their track record by looking at published data and by talking with clinics they have taken live. Will they send enough qualified professionals to implement the system in the shortest time and least obtrusive manner?

Do they have good training facilities and trainers? If possible, speak with the management team members that specifically oversee training and customer service staff. You are entering to a long term partnership with this company, so make sure you perform due diligence.

Last but not least, ask for references and call them for information. Most EHR companies depend on word-of-mouth referrals for their business. In order to get sites to serve as positive references, companies should be very service oriented. If not it won't take too many phone calls to current customers to get a good feel for where the company stands.

ASHIM: What kind of timetable should you expect when finally jumping into EHR?

Michael Q. Stearns, MD: I can only speak for , but I believe as a realistic estimate it takes most clinics about three to six months of vendor research before they choose a product. Implementation for us is typically about three months, but we currently are running a backlog of four months. As a reasonable estimate you probably want to give yourself a year before you are up and running. Given their requirements for meaningful use you may want to factor in some extra time to learn the system to the point where you are reaching these objectives.

We have seen many customers achieve a positive return on their ROI in their first year, often well above their initial investment. The second year is of course when we often see the biggest ROI. And, so far, we have reports showing continuing increases over time with patients, revenue generation, and proper use of clinical coding.

ASHIM: We understand EHR and the much efficiency it brings to a clinic, what beneficial ancillary business benefits have you discovered?

Michael Q. Stearns, MD: Good question! Most physicians are conservative by nature simply because of the complex decisions they have to make. That carries over in how they code for third party payers. Meaning, most clinicians are leaving thousands of dollars a year "on the table" because we don't want to create auditing problems.

EHRs have proven value with regards to coding accuracy, which has overall resulted in somewhat higher but justified coding levels. It also markedly improves charge capture for procedures and other billable items that have led to ROIs that have been much higher than we originally imagined.

To me, these are some of the more positive discoveries about the financial benefits of Health Information Technology. These are issues many people didn't consider or even thought about. In essence, recapturing the costs of the initial investment is accomplished to a great extent more rapidly than we had originally anticipated. That in itself makes conversion to EHR an intelligent business decision in addition to benefits that it can provide the quality and efficiency of health care in general. That's exceptionally exciting!

AUSTIN, TX - , a leading provider of electronic health records (EHRs), announced they have been selected as a Meaningful Use Partner by the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC). NYeC serves as the federally designated Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (HITREC) for the state of New York, and works to promote and assist with the adoption of health IT technologies (HIT) across the state as well as develop HIT policies and standards. As a Meaningful Use Partner, will assist members of NYeC in managing efficient implementation of EHRs and achievement of Meaningful Use in a cost effective manner.

Meaningful Use Partners were selected because their EHRs passed federal certification to be a Meaningful Use capable product, and they made a commitment to the providers of New York and the Regional Extension Center to help physicians achieve Meaningful Use and improve the healthcare for all citizens of New York. In addition to those criteria, offered affordability, a remote hosting option, ePrescribing capabilities, the ability to interface with a State Health Information Exchange (HIE) system, extensive system functionality, and overall benefit to providers. Chart, the company"s EHR, has also received high product ratings by the American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Physicians, and 2010 Best in KLAS awards for Ambulatory EHR (2-5 physician) as well as Practice Management (2-5 physician). was also recently one of two EHR vendors to receive a 2010 Surescripts White Coat of Quality award in recognition of its efforts to uphold the highest standards in e-prescribing.

Dave Whitlinger, Executive Director of the New York eHealth Collaborative (NYeC) said: "I am delighted that NYeC is partnering with . The Meaningful Use program is a very important incentive for providers. Establishing a group of Meaningful Use partners will increase the number of providers who can receive services from NYeC and will help physicians, who have become EHR users, learn how to qualify for federal reimbursements. NYeC"s mission is to improve the quality of patient care through health information technology. This partnership program will contribute to that goal and benefit the public good."

"We are delighted to have been recognized as a Meaningful Use Partner for the state of New York," said Michael Q. Stearns, MD, President and CEO of .

"NYeC is a very forward thinking organization, and their efforts will have an important impact on the adoption of sophisticated healthcare technology that will benefit the entire state of New York," Michael Q. Stearns said.

"As has been demonstrated by numerous physicians in the nation who have been the first to achieve Meaningful Use and incentive funding, ' commitment to helping physicians reach this goal, while continuing to make patients their priority, has been making a difference," Michael Q. Stearns explained.

As an affordable, easy-to-learn, and highly functional system backed up by strong, US-based support, Solution Series is ideally suited for the 1 to 10 physician practices targeted by the Office of the National Coordinator to receive Regional Extension Center support, making the EHR an excellent fit for members of NYeC.

AUSTIN, TX - , a leading provider of electronic health records (EHRs), announced that their client, the Gastorf Family Clinic of Durant, OK, received the first physician-paid incentive checks in the country under The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs. On January 5th, 2011, just two days after registration opened for the incentive programs, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority issued payments of $21,250 to two physicians at the Gastorf Family Clinic for their successful adoption and implementation of a certified EHR. The incentive payment is federally-funded under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The Gastorf Family Clinic worked closely with the Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality (OFMQ), Oklahoma's Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center, to apply for the incentive program and ensure the appropriate steps were taken in order to receive the Medicaid payments. OFMQ, a leader in health care quality improvement, provides health information technology consulting to Oklahoma providers adopting and implementing EHRs. The clinic was able to demonstrate its long-term success with Solution Seriesª to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) with support and counseling from OFMQ. "We are pleased to support the Gastorf Family Clinic on their EHR journey, and we are excited about this milestone event," said Dale Bratzler, chief executive of OFMQ. "We hope providers everywhere will recognize that dedicated efforts towards meaningful use of EHRs will pay off and the Regional Extension Center program is here to help in the process."

The Gastorf Family Clinic, a small, family-owned clinic in Oklahoma, implemented Solution Seriesª in 2005. The EHR offered their practice the necessary structure to keep the billing and business organized with the flexibility to accommodate the clinic's specific medical needs. "Partnering with as our EHR vendor and working with OFMQ, ensured that we could meet all of the requirements of meaningful use," said Darrell Ledbetter, CPM, The Practice Manager of Gastorf Family Clinic. "We are very excited to have received the first payment of the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Program and pleased that both of our physicians were eligible professionals for the incentives, netting our clinic a check for $42,500.00, the first year's installment in the program. was certainly the software vendor and support team we needed to back us up, and we are very grateful to their staff and the staff of OFMQ for their continued support. We encourage other providers to participate in this worthwhile program. "

"We feel honored that one of our clinics has been chosen by CMS to be the first ambulatory practice in the nation to receive incentive funds for the use of a certified EHR," stated Michael Q. Stearns, MD, President and CEO of , Inc.

"We look forward to working with the Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality and the Gastorf Family Clinic to help their providers qualify for additional incentives tied to the Meaningful Use of our certified EHR," Michael Q. Stearns said.

Large Minnesota clinic partners with to integrate EHR and Practice Management Software

AUSTIN, TX - , rated by physicians as the number #1 provider of electronic health records, announced they have been selected by Minnesota's Apple Valley Medical Clinic as the vendor of choice for the clinic's EHR and practice management system. Apple Valley Medical Clinic has 13 family practice physicians and a 24/7 urgent care facility. was selected after a year-long review process involving multiple virtual and on-site demonstrations, site visits and a thorough vetting of physician questions and concerns. Solution Seriesª offered Apple Valley Medical Clinic a single database solution, the ability to handle multiple workflow scenarios, as well as ease of use. The clinic's implementation of Solution Seriesª integrated EHR/PM suite was dependent upon being able to provide 24/7 support for the urgent care clinic. Apple Valley Medical Clinic was impressed by ' longevity in the industry, large customer base, years of experience supporting thousands of primary care providers across the nation, and outstanding customer service.

"We pride ourselves in offering our patients the very best health care, whether that be through the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness by our physicians or the latest in behind-the-scenes information technology," said Peter Frederixon, M.D., a founder of the Apple Valley Medical Center.

Apple Valley Medical Clinic staffs both full-time physicians and part-time rotating physicians. offered a flexible, concurrent licensing system that enabled the clinic to purchase 13 full-time and 14 part-time licenses, making the product an affordable solution for the clinic. The implementation at Apple Valley Medical Clinic will be a bi-directional lab interface, splitting the billing and charting to accommodate both the family practice and urgent care facilities. will provide its broad spectrum of client services throughout the implementation process.

" is proud to partner with such a forward-thinking clinic that has committed to excellence in patient care through the use of information technology," said Michael Q. Stearns, MD, CEO of .

"Apple Valley Medical Clinic is a leader in Minnesota's movement toward EHR implementation and meaningful use," Michael Q. Stearns explained.

Michael Q. Stearns said, "Patients will benefit from the clinic's use of advanced clinical decision support tools at the point of care and their provider's instant access to all relevant health information."

"We share a joint vision with Apple Valley Medical Clinic that optimal levels of quality and efficiency in health care can only be achieved through the use of sophisticated, yet easy to use, electronic health records," Michael Q. Stearns added.