EYE CARE CONSULTANTS OD/MD
An Expanding OD/MD Practice
We are a long time—22 year-plus—user of the KelKom workflow communication system because the EMR products we looked at and selected are far too cumbersome to be considered in the same thought for our practice owners.
We started with an ophthalmology practice of 2 MDs and 2 optometrists as an optometric referral center offering medical and surgical assistance to the surrounding Tristate area in Southwest Indiana. We began our business with 4 exam rooms, a minor surgery suite, tech area, large workup area, and 3 doctor offices, totaling roughly 2400 square feet.
Several years after we expanded to 8 exam rooms, to include an attached Ambulatory Surgery Center. In both our initial and expanded setups, we required efficient communications to staff and doctors on where to be and to maintain order while moving our patients through a high-volume practice. Finding a tech quickly to initiate further testing, or requesting assistance was a must. We looked at many systems, and none could compare with the simple and efficient design of the KelKom system. Over the years, we have looked at other, newer systems, and none could match the sleekness, power, and efficient way the KelKom system works.
“We have looked at other systems, and none could match the sleekness, power, and efficient way the KelKom system works.”
Matthew M. Boyer, M.D.
Walter H. Egenmaier, O.D
Evansville, Indiana
Why We Chose KelKom
Initially, we chose the KelKom system, but when offered similar abilities within our newly acquired EMR program, we were excited to see how they compared. While the EMR has all sorts of bells and whistles, and can create all sorts of arrays of patients waiting in different areas, we found the KelKom simpler, more efficient to use and communicate, and far superior to anything else we have seen. The EMR system bogged down the computer tasking, requiring a receptionist to login a patient and mark them as having arrived, then a tech marking them as ready, and finally the doctor logging in and out to track the patient… all very cumbersome and inefficient.
Flag and other lighting systems fall short what the KelKom communication and tracking system can do in one package. We have 18 staff made up of RNs, techs, receptionists, and doctors. To find a particular tech who is free to help, simply page a tech to a room or the attached phone/intercom and it takes only seconds to get a response. If a particular staff member or doctor is needed, page that person again with only a simple lighted command of, “Page Doc 3 to the phone,” or to, “Room 8.” The page goes throughout the clinic and surgery center and that doctor picks up the phone and answers or goes to that room. Without this system, we would have to waste time walking about trying to find the tech who worked up a particular patient or seek out another doctor to ask an opinion, etc.
Office Efficiency
BENEFITS WITH KELKOM
This streamlined system keeps track of which patients are ready first for all doctors. The doctor simply presses his doctor number and the rooms he is to go to are lit, with the room he should go to first flashing. The next doctor can then press the button and see which room he should go to first. As the doctor finishes, he double-presses the room he has finished and the next patient room will flash, guiding him in an orderly fashion. The patient flow is memorized by the KelKom system, so all patients are seen in a first come, first served fashion. If an emergency arises, or a more efficient flow is needed, that flow can be quickly and efficiently altered, allowing the doctor to go where he is most needed.
Programmable features allow one to customize the physical layout and staff. The 21-button display can accommodate multiple room outlays and types of staff, and it only takes minutes to understand how to use and respond to the system. We have externs who come to our practice and within minutes of showing them the principles of using the system, become experts in its use. So, teaching new staff members on its use is simple and quick.
Reliability is key. In the 22+ years we have used the system, it crashed only once, and the company sent us a replacement component overnight. We were back in operation the next day.
Expandability is a must. When we went from 4 to 8 exam rooms and added an Ambulatory Surgery Center, we changed a few buttons on the 21-button display, and we were ready to go.
