Stories from the Front Lines: The Journey to Meaningful Use

Pocatello Family Medicine
A Conversation with Erin Millward, RN, about EHR Implementation and Best Practices

Erin Millward, RN is the Nurse Manager of Pocatello Family Medicine (PFM) in Pocatello, ID. The practice is a residency program for family medicine, training residents for three years. Currently, PFM has eighteen residents on staff, with six to seven faculty members overseeing them.

The practice, since it’s a training facility, is a great place to school new physicians in EHRs and to prepare them from the beginning for workflow and practice management in an electronic environment. PFM went live with their GE system in 2005, so they’ve had nearly six years to see the advantages and the pitfalls of an EHR.

Millward says that, overall, the transition has been an extremely positive one. Among the many benefits, she says that “documentation is definitely much better. We can now run quality improvement reports through the EHR. It also results in more timely and accurate medical records in general, because the system prompts us to input information.” She also said that having an EHR makes it much easier to consolidate patient information and to draw results from it. “You can be more proactive with preventive care.”

The EHR has also been a great help with billing. In 2006, a year after going live, PFM’s billing profiles showed a net loss of $36,000. Within one year, that deficit was gone and the practice was in the black—mainly because the system taught new residents how to bill appropriately.

WIREC came along at a time when the EHR was well-established, but today the practice’s WIREC consultant is helping them ensure they are on their way toward meaningful use of their system and federal incentives. A gap analysis is just one tool the consultant uses to monitor and guide the practice toward making their CMS incentive goal.

When asked about advice to practices just starting out with an EHR, Millward says good training and 100% buy-in from physicians and staff is crucial. But she also cautions to not feel intimidated. “Dive in and go for it. It’s a constant learning process.”