Suncoast Medical Clinic, LLCSuncoast Medical Clinic, LLCOperational Excellence Grand Prize Winner Viewing this video requires Macromedia Flash Player 8 with JavaScript enabled. Operational Excellence URL: www.suncoastmedicalclinic.com Anyone who's undergone a medical procedure recently knows the cost of medical care has skyrocketed. Nor is it just patients that are challenged — medical groups and hospitals are consolidating at an astonishing rate, looking for economies of scale in order to keep costs down. Achieving operational excellence in this economic climate, as Suncoast Medical Clinic has, requires creativity and innovation. Established in 1952, Suncoast is now the largest medical group in South Pinellas County, with eight locations and 370 employees, with 24 specialties and serving 60,000 patients. Its 100,000 sq.-foot main campus encompasses a same-day surgery center, endoscopy center, full-service laboratory and radiology department, as well as a pharmacy. CEO Josh Adler believes that technology is the key to helping Suncoast serve its patients and operate efficiently. To gain such efficiency, says Adler, "we had to digitize the workflow process on both the clinical and administrative side." For example, the clinic has eliminated the process of physicians manually writing orders for diagnostic tests and waiting for results through paper based processes. "We now deliver real-time information through electronic health records (EHR)," which all Suncoast physicians use to review patient laboratory results, radiology interpretations and progress reports on a real-time basis, whether from their office, home or hospital. "On the administrative side, functions such as billing, managed care, accounting, and human resources have all been streamlined with electronic applications," Adler adds. The same goes for an electronic laboratory information system, which provides physicians a spreadsheet of results over the last two years so they can identify a positive or negative trend with patients' ailments. But the EHR system also contributes to efficiency. Even if a patient is seen by both a primary care physician and a specialist, there's still only one record for each patient, and each physician can see the notes made by colleagues. "This avoids duplication of tests, and lessens the risk of drug interaction," notes Adler. This is especially important because one of Suncoast's specialties is chronic disease management. Patients with chronic conditions absorb the majority of health care expenditures, notes Adler, but Suncoast can assist these patients more efficiently because it can easily monitor who hasn't received tests. "Figuring that out manually isn't efficient. To improve outcome, you need access to real-time data." The work toward efficiency continues: 15% of Suncoast's physicians are working with chart templates to streamline their workflow and improve efficiency further within the offices. Another 10% are using voice recognition software, which replaces the need for transcription services for 10% of our group's physicians. The remaining 75% of physicians are utilizing transcription services, which directly import information into the EHR system for review. Adler estimates that by the end of 2007, Suncoast will have eliminated 80% of the paper-based medical records budget and the majority of transcription services, for a savings of more than $1 million. "In 2005, we spent more than $1.5 million on supporting a paper-based medical records system, including $700,000 spent on transcription costs," says Adler. "For each physician that implements voice recognition and chart templates, the clinic will save over $25,000 annually." His is a people-intensive business, and his goal is to make the system as efficient as possible in order to make the people as efficient as possible. The ultimate outcome will be to provide the best possible patient outcome. "That will provide our competitive edge," Adler believes. |
 |
Guest