The
Proof is in the CertificationNothing says "quality product" louder than a CCHITSM certification, and that's exactly what LSS Data Systems accomplished this year. The Client/Server 5.5 SR 2.1 version of LSS' Medical and Practice Management Suite (MPM) is now a CCHIT CertifiedSM Ambulatory EHR product for 2006, placing LSS in an elite class among I.T. vendors as one of the first group of 22 companies to achieve certification.
"We believe that for us to provide the best quality, we need to be committed to being CCHIT-certified," states LSS President & Chief Operating Officer Stephanie Petersen. "We are now taking things a step further by pursuing CCHIT Ambulatory EHR 2006 CertificationSM for our MAGIC Medical and Practice Management Suite, Version 5.5, anticipated for the end of this year. If we keep working as hard as we have been, we know that we can achieve it."
Working Hard for, and with, Customers
LSS' improvements are reaching all across the company's internal structure, resulting in significantly higher performance for their products. For example, changes have been made to the beta testing process, to ensure that customers receive the most robust and cleanest releases possible. And to provide physicians with the most timely features and fixes, LSS has also instituted the process of packaging "priority pacs" -- more frequent updates for customers that deliver necessary fixes as standard changes. "With these changes, customers can remain confident in the integrity of their practice management software," says Petersen.
LSS Data Systems has also forged more alliances with physicians from across their customer base to exchange ideas on quality initiatives. In addition to the bi-annual Provider Development Meetings which include clinicians from many LSS sites, Senior Medical Advisors from Watertown Area Health Services (Watertown, WI) and Riverwood Healthcare Center (Aitkin, MN) come to LSS Data Systems on a monthly basis to evaluate development efforts and provide feedback for incorporation into future releases.
"The more we talk with customers and find out what their needs are, the better able we are to provide the most useful functionality for them," explains Petersen.
Integration is Key
But in order for an information system to be useful, it must also be intuitive and fitting to a caregiver's workflow. That's why one of LSS' key quality initiatives was to re-write portions of the Medical and Practice Management Suite. For MAGIC platform 5.6 SR1, LSS has "flattened" their screens by eliminating pop-ups and adding panel buttons. They have also re-written physician documentation and the chart review features of the Medical and Practice Management Suite. For the Client/Server platform 5.5 SR4, LSS reduced the number of pop-up screens and enlarged the actual screen size for better viewing. "We also are using the same color schemes and navigation tools as the MEDITECH acute software, so we can provide a seamless look and navigation across both solutions," says Petersen.
Quality-driven integration was another area in which LSS was able to add more value to their products. "We've increased our integration with MEDITECH by sending all vitals, scanned documents, chart notes, and patient letters to MEDITECH's Enterprise Medical Record," says Petersen.
On
the Horizon: e-PrescribingWhat's ahead for LSS Data Systems? Their latest undertaking involves making e-prescribing an accessible reality for more physicians. "With e-prescribing, physicians will be able to access a patients benefit eligibility and medication history at the point of care, immediately view drug interactions and transmit prescriptions electronically to the patient's pharmacy. Human error from hand-written prescriptions will soon be a thing of the past," says Petersen.
"Our goals are the same as our customers' goals. We want every patient to receive the right care every time. That's what our quality efforts are all about."