(Pasadena, Calif. – September 15, 2004) – Prime Clinical Systems, Inc., is meeting the needs of OB-GYN medical groups with its Antepartum Smart Form, a database-enabled feature that makes it possible for physicians to quickly and efficiently access and input information while working within the Patient Chart Manager electronic medical records system.
“Usually as a pregnant patient nears term, she has to carry around copies of her prenatal paper record with her. It’s a cumbersome, unreliable practice that leaves much room for error,” says Richard Deits, M.D., Prime’s Vice President of Electronic Medical Records. “The Antepartum Smart Form provides for better medical records availability and clinical documentation, which leads to improved care.”
Patient Chart Manager’s Antepartum Smart Form specifically provides physician users with:
Automated intelligence. The electronic form automatically calculates all gestational age parameters, whereas clinicians must manually calculate these when using a paper antepartum form. The Smart Form also formulates the estimated date of confinement and updates all parameters each time a patient is seen. Plus, it automatically reminds physicians when certain clinical tests are required, ensuring that physicians meet American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ clinical management guidelines on antepartum fetal surveillance.
Around-the-clock access to patient records. Instead of relying on patients to provide access to their medical records, the Antepartum Smart Form enables clinicians to access prenatal records via a Web browser. The records are hosted on a medical group’s server, using HIPAA compatible encryption. In addition, multiple authorized users can view the record at any time information.
Improved data capture. The Antepartum Smart Form ensures that data is easy to read and capture. Paper based forms often lead to errors due to illegible handwriting. Also, with the paper form it is difficult to determine who added which note and sometimes there is not enough room for all of the notes from various clinicians.
Reliable documentation. Smart Forms not only remind physicians to provide needed services but also to document care. With paper records, physicians often inadvertently omit important information, which can diminish the quality of care delivered in the future. Physicians can easily add information to Smart Forms by using stylus pens.
Improved data capture. Smart Forms ensure that data is easy to read and capture. Paper based forms often lead to errors due to illegible handwriting. Also, with the paper form it is difficult to determine who added which note and sometimes there is not enough room for all of the notes from various clinicians. With a Smart Form, clinicians use a pen stylus to enter information into expandable data fields, which accommodate notes of any length.
Reliable documentation of high risk factors. The automated form reminds physicians to check for a multitude of high risk factors, whereas with the paper record physicians often inadvertently omit important information. Errors in the prenatal form are some of the most common reasons for lawsuits.
Time savings. With the Antepartum Smart Form, a patient’s medical history including past pregnancy information is instantly displayed and medication, allergy and problem lists are imported from the existing database. With a paper record, physicians typically are required to manually rewrite the pregnancy history and record allergies and medications, an especially cumbersome task when patients are being seen for their second, third or fourth pregnancy.
“OB-GYN physicians face many unique challenges, especially in the clinical documentation arena. The requirements when caring for obstetric patients are quite extensive. Our Antepartum Module makes it so much easier for physicians to provide their patients with the best care and thorough documentation, which is so important considering the liability that OB-GYNs face,” says Barry Ardelan, Prime’s President and CEO. “Best of all, OB-GYN physicians don’t have to pay for this as a custom add-on. It’s simply part of our EMR offering.”
Prime will demonstrate the Patient Chart Manager Antepartum Module in booth #311 at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Districts VI, VIII & IX, Sept. 16th to 19th, Salt Lake City, Utah.
About Prime Clinical Systems
Prime Clinical Systems Inc. is a medical software company headquartered in Pasadena, California, and regionally in Lincolnshire, Illinois and San Ramon, California. Founded in 1983, the company’s proven products, stellar services and innovative advances have made it one of the fastest growing providers of health care software systems in the nation.
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Brad Dodge
Dodge Communications
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bdodge@dodgecommunications.com