Op Note Dictation – A Simple, Inexpensive Alternative

Tired of dictating your perioperative notes into a telephone or dictation machine? Tired of staff pestering you for completing your op notes? OpNoter^TM is the answer you’ve been waiting for

85% of ASCs use paper perioperative notes, and 74 percent use dictation and transcription for the generation of physician procedure notes. This is according to a independent study of ASC Administrators nationawide, which was commissioned by Wolters Kluwer Health (a leading global provider of information for healthcare professionals and students). According to this study, approximately 40% of the administrators stated the following reasons of lack of electronic documentation:

• interface with scheduling software and other systems; 
• capital investment; 
• software that will capture their patient mix; and 
• personnel to implement a new system.

OpNoter^TM is not only easy to use, but it’s easy to install & interfaces with Source Medical’s AdvantX software, one of the leading systems used by surgery centers. At a fraction of the cost one pays for dictation services, OpNoter^TM can be installed & operational in a facility in less than 1 day.

The OpNoter^TM software is designed to allow you to input all information regarding a particular procedure (i.e. that information that doesn’t change from case to case). This information becomes your procedure template. Then from this template, you insert (via keyboard or dictation machine) that information which relates solely to a specific patient case. OpNoter^TM is flexible enough to allow a surgeon to modify any part of the perioperative note at any point. An added bonus is that a surgeon can authorize his/her signature on the note by a click of a button, with full security so that only the surgeon has access to this option.

Ronda Chambers of Physician Surgery Center implemented this software and all her 10+ surgeons fully utilize it. It has allow this center to have complete operative notes prior to surgeon leaving the facility after doing procedures. This in turn allows coding/billing to be completed within 12 to 24 hours of each surgery. By embracing this technology, Physician Surgery Center has improved cash flow tremendously and has reduced documentation stress for both surgeon and staff.

Per Wolters Kluwer Health’s survey, “in 2008, CMS begins a four-year phase-in of a new ASC reimbursement schedule. These changes present both opportunities and challenges for ASCs and compel them to examine best documentation and billing practices, which directly impact revenue and reimbursement. Relying on paper in an era of electronic documentation and communication is inefficient and expensive.”

For further information on OpNoter^TM software, visit 7D & Associates website at www.7d.bz

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