“What high-tech business tools are you using in your practice to
improve patient care?”

At the University of Michigan Orthotics & Prosthetics Center, we use a lot of high-tech business tools, including CAD/CAM. We have a couple of AMFit digitizers and a carver, a number of TracerCad stations and 2 carvers, as well as a GaitRite system.

All UMOPC employees use e-mail, as it is a much-needed communication tool given our size, but everyone knows there is a time when we need to talk face-to-face too!

We also use patient satisfaction surveys several times a year. We are fortunate in that our health system provides us with a survey tool and tabulates the results for us to follow up with our CQI committee.

All of our finance and business tools are online, and as soon as we receive our new desktop computers for each of our patient treatment rooms, we plan to be paperless by the end of 2008/early 2009. We are also looking at another system (OPIE) for all of our online business/clinical tracking tools; we are now implementing OPIE as our inventory module.

All of these tools are necessary to meet accreditation standards, as well as [to] help us keep up with patient loads and fulfill the information requirements of being in business as a health care entity.
Anita Liberman-Lampear
University of Michigan Orthotics & Prosthetics Center
Annapolis, Michigan

In order to be competitive in today’s environment, you must use all tools that are available. Our company motto is “the latest in technology and the best in care.” 

Technology and care are tied together. If you care [enough] to provide your customer with the latest advancement, you must stay abreast of technology. [Otherwise] you will be just providing the same old service and not taking advantage of new and improved ways.

Some examples of the technology we use to achieve this are: CAD/CAM, Walk Rite (WalkAide), carvers, computers, patient satisfaction surveys, new billing software that allows you to track status of claims and proof of actions taken [by payers], laptops to show and teach services, fax machines and cell phones for technicians for instant communication.

We face high demand levels and our time is valuable. This technology allows us to provide better service. I believe that we would be remiss if we [did] not find a way to blend good old customer service with the latest in technology. We owe it to [ourselves] and, most assuredly, to our customers.
Rick Fleetwood
Snell Orthotics and Prosthetics Laboratory
Little Rock, Ark.

We are using CAD internally and then outsourcing to a fabrication facility that uses CAD/CAM. This process helps us control expenses and turnaround time. Another important value of this system is a chronological digital record of our prosthetic patients’ physical changes.

From a business management perspective, we are using a combination of tools that work well together. Our patient satisfaction and communication tool (AbilityPro) will soon have a bridge to the billing software we are using (Brightree). A Web-based patient satisfaction survey gives us a scorecard to show the quality of care we provide from the patient’s point of view.

The results are real, reliable and [can be reported] to referral sources and payers. I hope [that] AbilityPro will soon also become a measurement tool for evidence-based care.

Another business tool we need to discuss is our Web site. With the number of hits, questions posed and leads that become clients increasing every month, it is very obvious how important the Internet has become for patients, their families and caregivers when they are looking for information about orthotic and prosthetic care. Our Web site has become the world’s window to our company.

Case managers and payers are recognizing the measurement tools we are using help us manage the needs of our clients. There are those who will tell you, “if you’re not measuring it, you’re not managing it” and after all, they do call it “managed care.”
Dennis Clark
Clark & Associates
Waterloo, Iowa