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EW ASCRS PREVIEW 53 Symposia focus on EHR and FDA initiatives by Michelle Dalton EyeWorld Contributing Writer Administrators and physicians alike will learn how to make implementing an electronic health records program as painless as possible T wo symposia at this year's ASCRS•ASOA Symposium & Congress tackle the difficult topics of transitioning a practice to electronic health records (EHR) and what meaningful use actually means. The first symposium, co-sponsored by ASCRS and ASOA, is titled "Making a Smooth Transition to EHR: How to Stop Worrying and Love EHR," and will feature a panel of physicians and administrators, said ASOA executive director Laureen Rowland. Ms. Rowland said this panel will address "choosing equipment, as well as the more challenging issue of patient workflow. The issue of scheduling patients effectively and efficiently appears to be the main concern for people looking to convert to an EHR system," she said. Panelists include two physicians and two administrators, Ms. Rowland said. Jessica E. Chan, M.D., New York University School of Medicine, New York; Joshua A. Young, M.D., New York University, New York; Jack Vinson, administrator, Prairie Eye and LASIK Center, Springfield, Ill.; and Tina Pinke, C.O.E., administrator, Pinke Eye Center, Shelton, Conn., were confirmed as of press time. ASCRS director of government relations Nancey McCann will address meaningful use. Ms. Rowland said the symposium will have a question-and-answer aspect to it, as all participants have an EHR in place. "They can all address the growing pains they went through during implementation, what they hadn't considered but should have, what is working and what is not, and in one case why one system was abandoned in favor of a second one, and at what cost," she said. The symposium will be held on Sunday, April 21, 2013, from 1:00-2:30 p.m. in Room 131 of the Moscone Center. The second symposium, sponsored by the ASCRS HIT Committee, will present the results and analysis of the recent EHR Customer Satisfaction Survey conducted by McKinley Advisors, a market and research firm, on behalf of ASOA. Many ophthalmic practices are not planning to implement an EHR system, choosing to pay penalties instead. These practices do not believe the significant capital investment in technology results in increased efficiency. "This survey was designed to be purely a customer satisfaction survey," said Candace S. Simerson, president and chief operating officer, Minnesota Eye Consultants, Bloomington, Minn., and moderator of this symposium. "The results from this survey will be presented for the first time during this year's conference. We surveyed the ASOA membership to determine what satisfaction levels were and how the various software vendors stacked up," she said. "We [at Minnesota Eye Consultants went live] in February, so I'll discuss our experience, what we did and did not like. Hopefully some of our attendees will be able to use our experience in their decision-making process," Ms. Simerson said. For example, while practices inherently understand the necessity of an EHR program and moving away from a paper-based system, "the biggest challenge we hear about is how to anticipate all the workflow changes because it interrupts your whole practice operation," she said. These systems "change a practice's resource allocation" but not before most practices undergo reduced efficiencies as they learn the ins and outs of a particular system. "Every practice is different. You have to adapt the software to your needs and expectations, and the skill set of your staff and doctors," Ms. Simerson said. "Even though we all recognize that intuitively, it can be difficult to adjust to a new system while you're trying to provide the excellent care your patients deserve." Practices that have not yet implemented a system will hear "it's not like when you go live on some magical date everything is perfect," Ms. Simerson said. An ongoing challenge for practice administrators and IT personnel is helping staff and physicians overcome the learning curve as quickly as possible. For practices that have already implemented a system, this symposium can help address whether or not an upgrade or overhaul is necessary, and whether or not a piecemeal approach to updating software is a better idea, Ms. Simerson said. "No matter where you are in the process, everyone will walk out of this session with ideas on what will work for his or her practice," she said. The symposium will be held Monday, April 22, 2013, 3:00-4:30 p.m., in Room 131 of the Moscone Center. A third symposium will concentrate on the Food and Drug Administration, aptly titled, "FDA, Industry, and Ophthalmology: 'What We Don't Have and Why We Don't Have It,'" said Michael W. Belin, M.D., chair, ASCRS FDA Committee. Dr. Belin noted the symposium has been developed to provide "federal, regulatory, industry, and international perspectives on major changes occurring in mature regulatory systems such as the FDA and the European Union, as well as the difficulties companies have (both financial and practical) in getting products through the U.S. FDA process as compared to Europe." Confirmed panelists include Rolf Schwind, of a German medical device manufacturer, who will discuss why the company made the decision not to enter the U.S. market; Allen Hill, CEO of a domestic device manufacturer, who will elaborate on the difficulties bringing a device to market in the U.S.; and Doyle Stulting, M.D., who will address the entire approval process. Representatives from the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and the Center for Devices and Radiological Health have been invited to participate. This symposium will be held Saturday, April 20, 2013, 1:00-2:30 p.m., in Room 131 of the Moscone Center. EW Editors' note: The sources have no financial interests related to their comments. Contact information Belin: mwbelin@aol.com Rowland: Laureen@asoa.org Simerson: cssimerson@mneye.com