Physicians Say What They Want to Say--and Breakout!
(11/17/2011)
MEDITECH's Physician Forum offered over 20 new breakout education sessions, for physicians to network and offer feedback on MEDITECH's latest initiatives.

You asked for more education sessions, and you got them! MEDITECH's recent Physician Forum featured more small group breakout sessions, in response to their overwhelming popularity with our provider community. 

Over 20 new education sessions were included in this year's agenda, featuring four separate tracks geared toward the specific workflows of ambulatory, Emergency Department, and acute care physicians, as well as physician-CIOs. A number of these meetings were structured as focus groups, led by doctors in the MEDITECH community who shared their real-world experiences using the MEDITECH physician toolset.

Physicians who participated in these breakouts got a first-hand look at enhancements being made to the MEDITECH EHR, and were invited to share their feedback with presenters. These small groups encouraged open and free-flowing discussion among the attendees, as well as one-on-one facetime with MEDITECH leaders. 

Each track of breakout sessions offered physicians a range of topics to explore, specific to their roles in the continuum of care.

Ambulatory Discussion Highlights
Physicians who attended these sessions discussed topics that had particular relevance to managing care outside of the hospital walls. For example, during one session, attendees discussed strategies for creating a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH), and heard from Northeast Health on their journey toward achieving Level 2 PCMH certification through the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). 

Other groups discussed the importance of including patients as part of the care team, and how specific tools can help patients to effectively manage their chronic conditions on a day-to-day basis. Attendees got a sneak peek of MEDITECH's new products in these areas, with demonstrations of our 6.1 Ambulatory suite and the Patient and Consumer Health Portal. 

Acute Discussion Highlights
The Acute summits focused on several system enhancements that can streamline workflow for the physician working in the inpatient environment. These included platform-specific sessions on optimizing the physician's clinical workflow in MAGIC, Client/Server, and 6.0. Attendees discussed how new improvements to order sets can simplify their creation and maintenance, as well as enable caregivers to more effectively manage patient comorbidities. 

Attendees exchanged views on predictive surveillance, and the physician's role in monitoring at-risk patients "in real time." In addition, the process of patient discharge, as well as reconciling and managing patients' home medications, was also discussed. 

Emergency Department Discussion Highlights
Our ED sessions provided much food-for-thought for physicians working in this fast-paced environment. Attendees learned how the MEDITECH EHR helps caregivers to quickly access key demographic information, in order to get to know their patients during time-sensitive encounters. 

MEDITECH presenters asked for feedback on the design of our latest dashboard enhancements, and several sessions focused on how the multiple user capabilities in our Physician Documentation can improve communication between different providers. Our efforts to streamline the CPOE process also generated plenty of discussion among the participants. 

Physician-CIO Discussion Highlights
These sessions offered a unique perspective on the challenges faced by physicians who are information technology leaders at their organizations. Dr. Clyde Wesp of St. Joseph Health System shared his experience in achieving Meaningful Use Stage 1 across a large health system, and offered his thoughts on the proposed requirements of Stages 2 and 3. 

Other groups explored interoperability and strategies for employing quality reporting, to improve care as well as help providers to achieve ARRA Stage 1. Natural Language Processing, and its importance in enhancing the clinical narrative through clear and concise documentation, was another new session of interest. 

 

MEDITECH
Medical Information Technology, Inc.
MEDITECH Circle
Westwood, MA 02090
781-821-3000
www.meditech.com