Q&A with Dr. Michael Mignoli
Michael Mignoli, MD, FACP, is a board-certified internist at SouthPark Internal Medicine in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Dr. Mignoli has used an electronic medical record (EMR) since he joined SouthPark in 1995. Four years ago, he began using the MobileMD™ Health Information Exchange to improve access to his patients’ clinical data.
Dr. Michael Mignoli
Q: Does the MobileMD feed enhance your EMR?
A: Yes it does. It’s great. It’s the best $75 a month I spend. I get a lot of information from Centura Health’s hospitals about my patients who have been admitted, had tests or treatment on an outpatient basis or had to go to the ER. It captures data from other sources, too, such as the two reference labs we use. The information goes directly into my EMR without any intervention.
Our practice has been completely electronic for a long time, and this interface addresses one of the things that’s very important about using an EMR. I don’t have to go to another website, copy the data, and paste it into a certain location within the patient’s electronic chart. It’s information from outside my practice that’s already in the format I’m used to seeing it and in the place where I’m used to looking for it. That makes it invaluable.
Q: Has the MobileMD connection made it easier to work with Centura Health?
A: Without a doubt. I prefer to have patients go there because I know I’ll get the results in a timely fashion. When I order an x-ray, I know that once the radiologist’s report has been transcribed it will instantaneously feed into my EMR. I don’t have to wait for someone at the hospital to print it and fax it, then have my staff review it and place it in my inbox along with hundreds of other papers. With MobileMD, it’s already in the patient chart where I want it to be, and the EMR notifies me that I need to review it. MobileMD makes it easier. So I do, in fact, prefer that my patients go to Centura Health.
Q: Would you recommend the MobileMD connection to other physicians?
A: Without question. I do, and I have.
Q: What are a few of the clinical benefits?
A: I like to use a sandbox analogy. It’s very helpful to have data that I can use in my sandbox where I’m used to playing with it — like we were talking about earlier. The main clinical benefit is that I don’t have to think about where the patient data is from or what format it's in.
The second thing is it allows for rapid follow-up.
Q: Can you give us an example?
A: If one of my patients has to visit the ER overnight, the transcribed report is waiting for me in my EMR inbox the next morning. For the follow-up visit, I don’t spend any time gathering data. I can spend all my time acting on the data instead. So it really makes it more efficient for me.
Q: How is MobileMD HIE clinically relevant?
A: It’s all clinical data. It’s all stuff I need to take care of the patient. I get all kinds of lab results, radiology reports, pathology reports and any typical transcribed report. Any kind of information that might otherwise be mailed, delivered or faxed to us comes through the MobileMD feed. So it’s all 100-percent clinically relevant.
Comments:
Add a comment: