Archive for the ‘Omedix’ Category

Omedix Patient Portal Receives “Meaningful Use” Certification!

by on September 15th, 2011

Omedix is proud to announce that our patient portal – PortalPlus – has received its official “Meaningful Use” certification as an “EHR module. ”  We now have the federal government’s stamp of approval for our software!

Why is this important to our customers?

  1. Our software has passed a rigorous security and privacy review process that elevates our platform above non-certified vendors.
  2. We certified our ability to provide patients with “Timely Access” to their medical record – certification criteria 170.304(g).  This means patients can have online access to their clinical information, such as lab results, medications, problem list, and medication allergy list.
  3. For our customers seeking federal grant support for their EHR implementation, this certification officially deems the Omedix patient portal solution capable of enabling physicians to qualify for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).*  Our patient portal technology tightly integrates with two EMR platforms – NextGen and GE Centricity.

Why “Timely Access”?

In order for providers to receive grant money, they have to use certified software.  A software vendor can either certify on all Meaningful Use measures and call themselves a certified “Complete EHR”, or on a select few criteria and call themselves a certified “EHR Module.”  Omedix is not in the business of developing EHR software, so why did we bother to certify?  The answer is that there are some criteria that are impossible to meet without some way for the patient to interface with the practice’s EMR system.

One of these criteria is the ability for patients to see their medical record online in real time – otherwise known as “Timely Access.”  PortalPlus is a solution to that problem – the patient registers online, passes a verification process, and can then securely see portions of their up-to-date medical record over the web.

This means the patient can log in and see all their medications (past and present) whenever they need to. They can see a list of the problems they were diagnosed with. They can even see their lab results and allergies.  Your patients will be thrilled.

So what’s next?

Release more features and certify for additional measures!  One of our next objectives is to focus on certifying for additional criteria that will help our customers meet Meaningful Use more efficiently.  These include providing the patient with an electronic copy of their entire medical record and their clinical summary in CCR or CCD format through the patient portal.  Stay tuned for an unveiling of our new personalized patient education platform as well.

PortalPlus is the next generation patient portal that’s moving patient engagement far beyond accessibility to records and results.  We’re creating a dynamic community health platform.

*To learn more about the certification requirements and Meaningful Use, the federal government’s ONC provides a wealth of information, click here.

Listening to Our Clients

by on October 29th, 2010

In gathering testimonials for the new Omedix website, I was struck by some of the consistent themes and feedback I received from our clients. Firstly, almost all the clients I spoke to were ecstatic about the product they received once the project had been completed.  Although we were never the cheapest option they had to choose from, they all felt that they had absolutely gotten their “money’s worth.” Hearing that was very gratifying for our whole team because we put so much thought and effort into our work for every client.

All the clients also commented about how nice it was to work with a firm that specialized in medical practices, because we knew what we were doing and they didn’t have to give us a lot of explanations about what they wanted. People were also struck by how the designer was able to produce “exactly what they wanted but hadn’t been able to envision themselves.”  I received many comments about how organized and easy the process was.

Once the site was launched, several of our clients commented that they had waited too long to get a professional firm to create their website. They finally had a site that they were proud of, represented the quality of their practice, and that could provide useful tools and information to patients. One of our clients commented on the impact that a great site was having in terms of their ability to recruit and attract top talent, as they now had an online presence that presented the right impression of who they are.  One particularly successful project noted that their conversion rates – the number of clicks on their site divided by the number of appointment requests from new patients coming through the web – had quadrupled since the launch of their site.

Overall, it was wonderful for all of us get such wonderful feedback from our clients.

Omedix Exhibits at AAOE Conference; Discovers Life Truism

by on April 12th, 2008

I’m writing now from beautiful (and breezy) Charlotte, NC where I managed to convince the hotel to give me a mostly undeserving room upgrade, and so I have a rather spectacular view of downtown right now!

This is our third consecutive year showing at the AAOE Conference (it used to be called BONES). This is basically the premier conference for the administrators of Orthopedic practices around the country. There are around 500 administrators total, and at least 50 different vendors.

A simple but meaningful thing kept happening to me today: I ran into people I’d met before, or clients of ours, or people I knew, or people I didn’t know but recognized from previous years. First of all, it dawned on me that running into people you know and had fun talking to is FUN! Some kind of neurochemical is released when it happens because it just makes me feel happy to catch up with people even if we’re only mildly acquainted. There’s something wonderful about strengthening a human bond; it’s very fundamental to our existence.

The week before last we began a new project with a 3-physician pediatric group in Scottsdale, AZ. I’d met the practice manager over a year ago and she expressed a strong interest in working together. She still researched us along with two other companies, and it still took a year before she was ready to sign a contract. At the end of our first meeting — which went very well and was also fun — we had an interesting exchange:

Her: You know, I actually compared you guys to two other companies. Do you know why I chose Omedix?

Me: Charismatic personnel?

Her: Haha, well, you were still around 1 year later. Both of the others had disappeared.

How does this all tie together? The “Life Truism” I referenced in the title is that business is built on relationships, that relationships are built on trust, and that trust takes time to build and is very precious. It’s so easy to look from afar at a company and try to see why they’re business strategy made them so successful and completely miss the point that if your clients don’t actually like you and trust you, nothing will ever happen.

Initially, our company is almost always evaluated based on price, quality, and features. But I feel like whenever I have a really good personal connection with a prospective client, we wind up getting the business. I feel like I enjoy my work so much more when I have a good personal relationship with our clients. It just makes the world such a happier place.

So, here at the AAOE Conference for Year #3, it’s kind of a cool feeling because we’re not strangers here anymore. People know us. People know we were here last year, that we’re here this year, and that we’ll be here next year. That kind of thing is powerful and builds trust.

I’ll write another conference post probably by the end of the conference — talking one-on-one with so many practice managers is incredibly enlightening — but for now it’s time to get some sleep!