Steve Henry is administrator at Surgery Center at Liberty Hospital in Liberty, Mo.
Steve Henry: We were looking for systems that would give us efficiency and help us to ensure patient safety. We were also weighing cost and functionality. We looked at a few systems and observed their use in other facilities. It just seemed like the AmkaiOffice business management system and AmkaiCharts EMR were the most comprehensive and user-friendly and best mirrored what we were using at the time, which were paper charts.
After our clinical staff took a look at AmkaiCharts and our office staff looked at AmkaiOffice, it was a no-brainer to switch to AmkaiSolutions.
Q: You recently went live with the systems. What are your impressions so far?
SH: Everybody loves them. The staff is becoming more comfortable with them by the day. They are helping them do their jobs better and provide more time to focus on patients and make sure patients have the best possible experience here.
The systems provide so many efficiencies. Tasks are completed with simple point and clicks. That's it, and then you're done with what you need to complete. AmkaiSolutions has great products.
Q: Why did you decide it was time to switch from paper charts to an EMR?
SH: An EMR can make your processes very efficient. We don't have to fumble through paper charts for data anymore; we've got it all right there at our fingertips. We now have a reliable system where we know we can always find our data, which is very exciting. And knowing that this system is backed up and secure, it provides great piece of mind.
While surgery centers aren't required have an EMR yet, it's only a matter of time before they are, and we wanted to get a jump on it. We know our physician offices are making the change to an EMR for Meaningful Use; we wanted to not only keep up with them, but also to be proactive rather than reactive.
Q: What has been your experience interacting with the AmkaiSolutions customer service team?
SH: The customer service is really fast. With a former company we worked with, it would sometimes take to two weeks to get a response on something as simple as correcting a form or changing something in the system. With AmkaiSolutions, we get someone on the phone who can help us within minutes. It's just fantastic.
