Parkview Medical Center
Simplifying Access to Critical Data
Parkview Medical Center provides quality health care to residents of Pueblo and southeastern Colorado. A regional leader in acute medical care and behavioral medicine, Parkview’s service area includes the primary market of Pueblo and a secondary market consisting of 27 additional counties. Over its 81-year history, Parkview has become a leading health care provider and has developed a reputation for providing the highest quality service with the most experienced staff and the region’s best facilities. Specialty areas include cardiac and neurological surgery, a Level II Trauma Center and a unique pediatric unit called Kidsville®. In the behavioral medicine area, Parkview offers chemical dependency and psychiatric programs for all ages.
Cumbersome Products Waste Time and Money
The MEDITECH® Health Information System contains a wealth of information needed by many physicians, clinicians and employees of Parkview Medical Center. Getting the information from MEDITECH to this audience using both remote access and report distribution was a challenge.
When they embarked on this mission to eliminate the complexities of accessing the MEDITECH data, Parkview Medical Center had dialup modems, a FAXBOX system, and a report distribution solution, none of which was doing the job effectively. The company that provided the FAXBOX system was out of business and support for the product is being discontinued. The dialup access to MEDITECH had numerous problems, such as hung modems, slow speed, and dropped lines. In the health care environment, hung modems could compromise security, a very visible and critical issue due to HIPAA (Health Information Portability and Accountability Act) requirements. And the report delivery system they used was high maintenance and complicated, taking time that the IT staff could be using more wisely.
“Getting at the information in the MEDITECH system is a critical requirement,” said Ann Bellah, physician information systems analyst for Parkview Medical Center. “We need reliable, accurate and simple access to the data for those who need it and in the format they want it. Our previous solutions had many problems. The report delivery system would just drop words from the reports, which the vendor could never fix. Losing clinical information from the reports is a serious issue.”
Finding an Easier Way
On a recommendation from Iatric Systems, a solution provider specializing in MEDITECH Healthcare Information Systems, Parkview Medical Center contacted Interbit Data regarding their add-on products for remote access, faxing and report distribution.
Remote access connectivity was the driving force behind looking for add-on products to the MEDITECH system. NetAccess is Interbit Data’s product for remotely accessing MEDITECH information securely over the Internet. With the offices now deploying DSL or cable connections to the Internet, having a product that gave them Web access was extremely beneficial. “Currently, NetAccess is being used by over 130 users, both from their office and from some physician’s homes,” added Ann. “ NetAccess is a simple, straightforward product that was easy to install and set up. It basically runs itself. Once Interbit Data helped us get it up and running, it has been going ever since. We are extremely happy with the ease of use of this product.”
With the success of NetAccess, Parkview Medical Center decided to look at Interbit Data’s NetFax product as a replacement for their discontinued FAXBOX system. They still needed a solution for faxing clinical information from the medical records, radiology and the transcription areas. Just like NetAccess, NetFax was simple to set up and pretty much maintains itself.
With both products now successfully installed and running, Parkview Medical Center decided to look at Interbit Data’s report distribution solution, NetPrint Plus. Parkview’s current solution was difficult and unreliable. With two very successful implementations of the NetSolutions products, how could they go wrong with NetPrint Plus?
Report Distribution Simplified
Parkview Medical Center had specific requirements for a report delivery product and gave their requirements to the folks from Interbit Data. “Interbit Data is extremely accommodating to our needs,” commented Ann. “Some of our customers have special requirements and Interbit Data worked with us to customize the product. They explain how and why things work as they do and they spend the time to make sure that we understand.”
Once again, Parkview Medical Center was not disappointed. NetPrint Plus simply works and the users receive the documents they need. “NetPrint Plus uses less paper because reports are sent directly from the MEDITECH system, eliminating wasteful headers or footers. We have received comments from our customers that they like the report format,” said Ann. “We also get fewer calls because NetPrint Plus is not a complicated system. We spend very little time maintaining the system and can handle supports calls from users without turning to the vendor. That definitely saves us time.”
Now with the two products in place, the IS department can provide better customer service to their clients. The users have a choice on how they want to access the clinical information. “They can pull their own reports via NetAccess or they can opt to get new clinical reports delivered directly to them in the delivery method they chose – internet, faxing or mail,” offered Ann. “The choice is theirs.”
Building a Solid Partnership
Parkview Medical Center feels their relationship with Interbit Data is truly a partnership for success. Unlike other vendors they have worked with that were in different time zones, the folks from Interbit Data are always available to answer questions and solve issues, even if it means staying late to accommodate a time that was convenient for them. They answer questions about the entire system, not just their own products because they are very knowledgeable about the total MEDITECH solution.
“What we like the best about Interbit Data’s products? They are simple to install, use and maintain and are very cost-effective. Interbit Data builds the products on standard features in Microsoft Windows so the products just work,” noted Ann. “Plus, Interbit Data is very in tune with their customer needs. We have been working with them to provide feedback and requirements for the products. We are very satisfied with the products and look forward to future enhancements.”
About Parkview Medical Center
Parkview Medical Center provides quality health care services that improve the health of our community. As the region’s only locally governed medical facility, Parkview Medical Center is committed to providing the best in modern health care to the people of southeastern Colorado. For more information, contact Parkview Medical Center at 719.584.4000 or visit our web site at www.parkviewmc.com.