Profile: Michigan State University
Beginning in 2001, the Michigan State University HealthTeam (MSU) began a system-wide program of implementing and adopting electronic medical records (EMRs). Today, nearly all of their 40 clinics in the Greater Lansing area have implemented an EMR, saving each practice time and money. This success has allowed MSU to shift their focus to improving utilization of those systems and pushing the traditional limits of what an EMR is capable of. Employing advanced technology such as speech recognition software, e-prescribing, wireless tablet PCs, and Kryptiq’s Connect IQ™ Secure Messaging software to securely communicate with patients and between disparate locations of care, MSU has placed itself on the cutting edge of modern medical care.
“Secure messaging has enhanced our EMR system allowing us to better utilize staff and physician resources,” says Dr. Michael Zaroukian, Chief Medical Information Officer, director of the original EMR implementation project, and Associate Professor of Medicine at MSU. “By eliminating the time and cost of inefficient paper communications, I can better serve my patients and more effectively communicate with my colleagues. Electronic communications are safer, better organized and more efficient than paper communications. Virtually all of our patients appreciate the ability to communicate with us electronically. I’m firmly convinced that this system will be a big part of our efforts to continuously improve patient care.
“Despite common physician concerns that they will be inundated with patient email messages, we have not seen patients overusing clinical messaging since implementing Kryptiq’s solutions,” says Dr. Zaroukian. “On the contrary, our clinic receives approximately one message per day for every 250 patients registered in the system, with virtually all of the messages appropriate and relevant, and which would otherwise have to have been communicated by phone or in person and recorded by a clinic staffer or physician anyway. The difference is that now we can document and respond to them more easily and quickly than ever before.
“As the healthcare community continues to look for new ways to improve patient care, technologies that extend the value of EMR systems, like secure clinical messaging and the rest of the Connect IQ Suite, will become increasingly important to practices like ours.
"Most people spend only 0.01% of their lives face-to-face with their physician at an office visit. Kryptiq’s Provider Solutions give providers a convenient way to help patients make better use of the other 99.99% by improving communication and self-care decisions between visits.
“From securely moving patient information with Connect IQ Secure Messaging to chronic disease management with CareManager™, Kryptiq’s Provider Solutions allow our providers to better document and manage the health of our patients. We are grateful to have these tools to improve the ways we can deliver care to our patients.”
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