Zarzar Psychiatric Associates in Raleigh, North Carolina
The Situation
Zarzar Psychiatric Associates, PLCC is a busy multidisciplinary psychiatry practice in Raleigh, North Carolina with a team of 3 psychiatrists, 2 therapists, 1 clinical research nurse and 3 administrative staff. Their patients range from 18 to 95 years of age, and as is typical for a psychiatric practice, there are more women than men. In addition to routine outpatient psychiatric care, the clinic is also involved in several clinical trials. The clinic was using a practice management solution for billing and scheduling and paper charts only for medical records for several years and was looking to implement Electronic Medical Records in their practice to augment patient care and efficiency.
The Challenges
Their main reasons for implementing EMRs were to:
- Improve efficiencies in the office.
- Have relevant patient information readily and reliably available at all times, including while on call, thereby augmenting clinical care.
- Take advantage of various initiatives offered to move to electronic patient records.
The clinicians and the administrative staff alike were concerned about maintaining patient privacy and about computer “crashes”.
Ease of use and appropriateness to a psychiatric practice were two major considerations during the decision making process. Scalability and flexibility of the software and the post sales support were equally important factors. After careful search and evaluation, Zarzar Psychiatric Associates chose ABELMed, a fully integrated CCHIT certified EMR and Practice Management software.
Installation and on-site training were conducted in July 2008. Extensive telephone support was provided throughout the initial implementation phase by phone and over the internet. ABEL‘s experienced team was instrumental in helping to make the transition from paper charts to electronic medical records a smooth process. Relevant patient demographic data from the previous software was effortlessly brought over into the ABELMed software. The clinic decided to implement both the Practice Management and Electronic Medical Records simultaneously instead of following a modular approach. The clinic staff found the ABELMed system to be easy to learn and the post implementation technical support to be the major factor in the successful transition. To quote Dr. Michael Zarzar, “ABELMed Inc. is a breath of fresh air when it comes to computer support”.
The Relationship
Currently the ABELMed software is being fully used by both clinical and administration staff. Implementing ABELMed has put information at their fingertips, when they want it and where they want it. The prescription module (Surescripts certified) has made sending and tracking prescriptions very easy. Its ease of use led to increased efficiency right from the day of implementation. No lost or missing charts and the ability to do quick database searches are other important benefits that the clinic has realized by switching to ABELMed.
When asked whether they were facing any issue with the software, the doctors did not identify any. Customizing the software to make it applicable to document and track clinical trials, creating custom reports and developing custom alerts are three features that Zarzar Psychiatric Association is currently working on with ABELMed Inc.
The Result
Dr. Michael Zarzar, a senior partner at Zarzar Psychiatric Associates said, “We started using ABELMed in July 2008. The system was easy to learn, use and apply to our practice. The system is intuitive and the integrated EMR and practice management software makes running the practice easier and more efficient. One of the best aspects of working with ABEL is their support and responsiveness. From the time of the initial contact with sales, they have been responsive. If we have any issues they respond within a short time with solutions. From ordering to set up to implementation/training and now support they have been great to work with. I would recommend them highly."
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