Professional Offices Mean Healthy Profits
On the clinical side, the software helps provide better health-care through creating electronic medical records, or EMRs—a hot concept that Esparra noted is strongly supported by the federal government.
The concept is simple: Take the old-fashioned paper patient's chart and computerize it. Once a doctor becomes familiar with using the computerized chart, it should ultimately free up more time for patients, Esparra said. In addition, eliminating hand-written notes reduces transcription costs. "We've had offices that reduced those costs 95 percent or more, and in a group practice, annual transcription costs can be $300,000 to $600,000," Esparra noted. "The benefits are parallel, whether it's a one-person office or a 50-doctor practice," he continued. "Follow-up visits can be shorter, yet still provide quality," he said, noting that the software contains prompts for various aspects of patient care.