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5 Questions with James Stevermer, MD Medical Director, Callaway Physicians
James Stevermer, MD is medical director of Callaway Physicians, a part of the University of Missouri Health System. The practice, which recently met NCQA patient-centered medical home level 3 criteria, employs 16 full-time and 16 part-time staff members who see an average of 80 patients a day.
How have you and your colleagues seen technology change the way healthcare is practiced at CP, especially given that it recently celebrated its 40th anniversary?
There have been remarkable changes, whether we are looking at therapeutic interventions or the day-to-day practice. EHR has been a substantial work-flow change.
What EHR does CP use, and where are you with Meaningful Use?
As part of MUHealthcare, we use Cerner Powerchart. We’ve met Stage I and will work towards Stage 2 next year.
Given that CP is in a rural setting, has it looked into adopting telemedicine services?
We have had telemedicine, but it’s been little used. Partially because it wasn’t used much when first put in, due to technologic barriers at the time. Although rural, the distance isn’t that far to referral systems, so I think patients prefer to travel. We use it regularly for educational purposes.
Has the practice encountered any healthcare IT implementation challenges recently?
Our biggest challenge was a couple of years ago when we went to CPOE. Fewer challenges in the last couple of years. Things also improved when we moved bandwidth beyond a bare minimum for the size of the practice.
What implementation best practices can you share with other providers?
Have several champions, not just physicians. Have extra help during transitions. Be prepared for unanticipated workflow changes.
Contacts
Mr. H, Lorre, Jennifer, Dr. Jayne, Dr. Gregg, Lt. Dan, Dr. Travis
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Is that 80 patients per day per provider, or how was that number derived? I’ve seen 80 patients a day being carried by an orthopedic physician, but very rarely by a primary care physician. And to have multiple providers who can see that throughput? Would love to peek behind the curtain.