Testimonials

Practice Background: From the inception of his practice in 1973, Dr. Elihu Sussman has had an office staff of one -- his wife, Geraldine, who serves as the practice’s secretary and office manager. As the sole provider, Dr. Sussman maintained all patient medical records by hand, and Mrs. Sussman handled scheduling and billing. As computers came on the market in the mid-1980’s, Dr. Sussman grew interested in how this technology could assist his office, particularly on the practice management side, and began incorporating rudimentary billing software programs into his practice. By the mid-1990’s, however, as managed care and its accompanying billing procedures came to the forefront of primary medicine, Dr. Sussman’s billing software was not keeping up, leaving Mrs. Sussman with the task of filling out pile after pile of HCFA forms by hand. It was then that Sussman realized he would need a more advanced computer program that could handle the complexities of third-party billing.

Purchase Decision: Dr. Sussman viewed demos of a number of programs available at the time and found that “nothing fit the bill.” When a friend referred him in 1996 to Fred Pytlak, developer of a DOS-based program called Visual Data, he requested a demo and was immediately impressed by the program’s capabilities. He also appreciated its flexibility, as it allowed him to use the features he wanted without “taking over” the rest of his practice. With this in mind, Sussman purchased the software and initially used it only for billing tasks, such as recording and printing patient statements.  But, as the program evolved into the Windows-based program ‘Office Practicum,’ Sussman’s use of the program grew, “incrementally”, beyond billing and into other areas of his practice. Now, Sussman not only raves about “slick” features like the VacLogic vaccine algorithm and the “seamless” integration of the EMR and practice management aspects of his practice, he also frequently demos these features to other physicians.

Adapting to Office Practicum: Dr. Sussman is still selective about the features of Office Practicum that he uses -- he sticks to free narative notes, and uses the program’s automated features mostly for immunization records, school forms, and billing. However, he enjoys having the ability to choose which features to use, and adapt the software to his practice, rather than the other way around. “It’s a very flexible system,” he says. “There’s enough space in the system to allow me the freedom to do what I want. It’s not confining if you want to do things a different way.” And as Office Practicum has developed alongside  Sussman’s practice, he has never felt impeded by changes in the program. “All the new features haven't interfered with what we do as a solo practice,” he says. “Office Practicum has allowed us to maintain the same [standards of] quality we always have... it’s enhanced, but not altered, our practice.”

Using Office Practicum: As one of the pioneer users of Office Practicum, Dr. Sussman has watched the program grow and has also gotten to know the developers well. He has long been impressed, he says, by how Pytlak and his team were always “ahead of the curve” and prepared for regional or industry-wide changes affecting  pediatric practices, such as mandatory submission to vaccine registries in New York and other cities, and the AMA’s restructuring of vaccine codes to accomodate the new H1N1 vaccine in 2009. Fred and his team are “always anticipating what the changing requirements are, what mandates from government agencies are coming, and [working to] incorporate the appropriate fixes and add-ons,” Sussman says. These fixes are often worked out so well in advance that once a certain procedure is actually mandated, it already runs “smooth as silk” in Office Practicum.

Practice Background: Dr. Buckley is a solo pediatrician. She has been using Office Practicum since 2001.

“My practice is unique in that, [when I first started] I was making house calls, I had no staff, and I was out of network for all insurance. Now, I rarely make house calls, I have four staff, and I continue to be out of network for all insurance. I have increased tremendously the number of specialized patients I see with Autism. Through all this growth and all the changes, the program has remained easy to use and has tailored itself fabulously to my unique needs.”

Purchase Decision: "I was beginning a new practice, which was going to involve making house calls and I knew I would have no staff for some time. The office space I was considering was too small to house a bunch of paper even if I had staff to file it. An EMR was the only viable option as far as I was concerned, and it needed to be portable. I shopped for about six months and compared lots of products. The portability [of Office Practicum] and the fact that it is written for pediatrics specifically [means] it is really tailored to the care of children. It was self-sufficient and a compact program. "

Adapting to Office Practicum: "I was starting a new practice, so I didn’t experience [a change from paper to electronic], but I know that I love having my records absolutely current. In over three years of using Office Practicum, having followed all the instructions I’ve been given, I’ve had only one nearly serious problem when my database began to overgrow my computer, and it was corrected instantly. I’ve enjoyed immensely the responsiveness to questions and to ‘wish lists’ for things I’d like a program to do. I know I continue to be a more unique client and the program has never failed my needs."

Using Office Practicum: "Office Practicum allowed me to run my office without staff for nearly two years. The addition of staff frightened me, but even folks who aren’t computer lovers have used the program easily and it has been seamless. One nurse who has used other programs now loves mine. It’s extremely fairly priced, it’s an excellent program, and the people behind the program actually have names and are truly supportive, though you’ll rarely need them. You do not have to be a computer geek to use this program and understand how it works."

Personal Benefits: "Fabulous. Just fabulous! Being able to prepare a comprehensive note in moments, complete billing in a couple of clicks, and scan in records while a patient is in the office. I also love being able to remotely access charts if I need to and being able to take a current set of charts for my patients with me when I go somewhere so that I can think about details when I’m at a medical conference."

Practice Background: Carnegie Hill Pediatrics is a 5 pediatrician group on the east-side of Manhattan. The practice was first established in 1988 and has been growing ever since. Staff consists of five medical assistants (one is assigned to the lab), 4 receptionists, an assistant Office Manager and an Office Manager, and a part-time employee who is responsible for scanning labs, consult letters, and old charts into the computer system. Carnegie Hill Pediatrics has been using Office Practicum since 2003.

Purchase Decision: "Initially we had a computer program (Physicians Office Manager) just for billing/accounts receivable and demographic information. We started looking at new computer systems [and] once we began thinking about a new system, I became interested in EMR. It seemed the way of the future and offered many advantages.

"We had a budget of about $80,000 for hardware and software and automatically cut any vendor who was over $100,000. When we got down to the few finalists (we saw these programs more than once, checked out references, etc.), we tried to compare apples to apples. Of course, this was very difficult, since some of the companies don't break down all the expenses. We considered not only cost of the software, but also cost and amount of training. Would they support our hardware? How much were hardware and software fees? If there were problems, who would be coming to fix them and where would they be coming from? How many pediatricians were using the program? Was the program pediatric-friendly? How was the billing program? How were telephone messages handled? We rejected one program because it didn't have a way of tracking the vaccines given. We were about to sign another vendor when we asked and discovered that the program couldn't generate a camp form, even though they originally claimed that it could."

Adapting to Office Practicum: "It is a year since we installed Office Practicum. The switchover has been a lot of work. The biggest tasks for me were reviewing the templates and phrase construction areas and customizing them just right for me, but it is pretty easy to learn how to do this. Entering the important data on each patient (major illnesses, allergies, checking that the vaccines are entered correctly) took a few minutes for an infant and up to 10-15 minutes for a teenager who has had many problems. Now, just about every one of my patients is in the system and it has made life very easy.

"The training from the staff of Office Practicum was excellent. I did much of my training over the Internet. This made it possible for me to take an hour of training at home, or on the weekends. The trainers know the program very well and can come up with creative ways to get the program to do something you need that may not have been done before. I didn't take all my training in the beginning. I continued to take an hour periodically as I started using more and more of the features of the program. The more I use the program the more I like it and the more I think, 'Boy, they thought of everything when they wrote Office Practicum.'"

Using Office Practicum: "We use just about every aspect of the program. Office Practicum is a pediatric program and everything was set up for pediatricians (not internists and surgeons) already. The vaccines were not only lined-up in the proper spaces for easy viewing, but the program tells you what vaccines are due. The templates for many conditions were already created. The local school forms were already scanned in and stored in the program and when you print one, the data (patient name, birth date, vaccines, Hct, Lead, Urine-analysis, etc.) print exactly in the right place on the generated form. Growth charts are incorporated into the program and you can automatically place a patient's measurements onto one of them. Office Practicum has a telephone messaging system and instant messaging between staff. All the CPT and ICD9 codes are already loaded into the program. All the codes for pediatric-specific diagnoses, vaccines, etc. were there. So much of what would have had to be designed from scratch in other systems was already there in Office Practicum.

"I use a tablet PC and we have a wireless network. I chose the tablet because I didn't want to have my back turned to a counter-mounted computer or have the screen of a laptop as a 'barrier' between me and the parent and child. About 90% of my note writing can easily be done by pointing/clicking with the pen and using the pre-set templates. We haven't had any major problems. On the two occasions the system went down we got immediate responses from the staff at Connexin Software and we were back up and running within a couple of hours. We had some difficulty getting our wireless network to work well or to get our tape backup to work perfectly, but these problems were solved by a good IT person. (Note: Dr. Raucher's practice is located in the basement of a building, which created wireless Internet difficulties and wiring problems unrelated to Office Practicum.)

Benefits & Favorite Features: "We had some reservations about Office Practicum. Compared to others, theirs was a small company. How stable would they be? How good would support be? The answer is: you have nothing to be concerned about here. Many of our colleagues are looking at Office Practicum and we keep hearing of new clients. I am very impressed with the help we get on a daily basis. The program is continually being improved. Some of my own ideas have been listened to and incorporated into the program, too.

"I like the fact that while I'm in the exam room or in my office, any data I enter are available to the front desk immediately. The prescription-writing section, once individualized, is very helpful too. I think Office Practicum is a great system. It does 99% of what I'd like to see in an EMR system and it does it very well. It's set up with the pediatrician in mind, making it easy to churn out school and camp forms. The teaching was and continues to be very good. The same is true of support and help.

"There are lots of EMR programs out there, but I doubt you'll find many as good and as comprehensive, or as useful to you (if you are a pediatrician) as Office Practicum. If that isn't enough to convince you that this is a wonderful program, look at the price -- in comparison, it's a bargain!"

Practice Background: Shults Pediatrics, PC has been using Office Practicum since it opened its doors to patients on September 3, 2002. Dr. Stephanie Shults has been a pediatrician in the East Tennessee area since 1994. She previously worked in two other pediatric practices, both using paper charts. Shults Pediatrics, PC has four part-time office staff, and six part-time registered nurses. None of the employees had previously used electronic medical records. The practice provides care for over 2,000 patients and has a waiting list. On an average day, Dr. Shults and her staff will attend to 30-40 patients.

Purchase Decision (Randy Shults, Office Manager): “After working in a paper chart environment for several years I knew that, with the right software and support, seeing patients every day, dealing with medical issues, providing medical information over the phone, as well as maintaining the integrity of the financial information, such as charging and billing, would be much more efficient and accurate [with an EMR/PMS]. I read articles in various medical journals as well as searched the Internet and spoke with other members of the Medical Group Managers Association (MGMA) for five months. I would download the programs to a computer and then Stephanie and I would review them. We found Office Practicum to be the right software.”

Purchase Decision (Stephanie Shults, MD): “I wanted to spend more quality time with the patient, while being more efficient in my documentation of the visit. This would lead to better coding and thus, better reimbursement. The fact that this program was designed for a pediatrics practice, the availability of Connexin Software to discuss any aspect of the software, as well as the dedication to maintain the program with the latest technology, were very appealing."

Adapting to Office Practicum (Stephanie Shults, MD): “The company worked with me in every phase of designing our system. [They] take a lot of stress out of setting up an electronic office environment. [Their] dedication, expertise and availability are unmatched as far as I’m concerned. We use [the entire Office Practicum system]. The transition period from a paper to an electronic office was much easier and less painful than originally thought. We scanned and entered all the necessary patient information of 1,500 paper charts in less than two and a half months. The training was excellent. We used a training process through remote access. As we watched [in our offices], the training staff maneuvered our computer through the many different features of Office Practicum. The training was broken into three sessions: nursing staff, office staff, and administration. Every question was answered and they were always willing to work around our schedule to set-up training sessions. The continued support is better than I imagined. We always speak to someone when we call with no waiting or callbacks. We usually get an answer to our questions while on the phone and always resolve the issues.”

Using Office Practicum (Stephanie Shults, MD): “Everything in Office Practicum streamlines our office into a very efficient operation. The scheduling process and the EMR add the most benefit to our daily patient flow. The design of the EMR chart is very efficient and user-friendly and allows me to focus more time and attention on the patient rather than the documentation. This program decreases the opportunity for error from billing to communication errors between staff members. I would recommend everything about Office Practicum. From [the] innovative staff to everything in the program, it allows me to practice medicine with the confidence that we are efficient, accurate and secure with our patient information. The program is user-friendly and helps produce efficient patient flow in our office. Other physicians and hospital administrators have seen our program and are always impressed.”

Benefits & Favorite Features (Stephanie Shults, MD): “The daily charting is very time-efficient and the review of the chronology is user-friendly. The nursing staff and I had never used an EMR before and were somewhat hesitant to try something that would change our daily process so dramatically. After a year of using Office Practicum, I asked them if they would like to go back to a paper chart system. Everyone gave an emphatic ‘NO!’ I feel the same. We are very appreciative of everyone at Connexin Software. To everyone there, we would like to say, ‘Thank you.’”

Practice Background: Dr. Knight has been using Office Practicum since 2002. At the time of this testimonial, Glencoe Pediatrics was a solo pediatric practice employing one part-time practice manager and one part-time office clerk.

Purchase Decision: “In searching for an EMR, I wanted to find a package that would help me to increase my efficacy as a physician, to reduce my paperwork, and to eliminate the need for my poor handwriting. I desired efficiency, as I was starting out as a solo practitioner with no office staff. In addition, I was seeking portability and the ability to move from office to office with only a disc or laptop. [Office Practicum is] tailored to handle the particular needs of pediatric practices. In addition, it was simply the best EMR in terms of layout, ease of use and depth of content. I had reviewed other products prior to Office Practicum, and there was no question in my mind as to which would best suit my needs. I felt quite certain that the high quality of the program and the accessibility of the developers’ support would provide great savings in workload and decreased stress.”

Adapting to Office Practicum: “Connexin Software believes that, ‘Software is a service industry.’ They have been accessible from day one, and gave me the initial training I required when I needed it. Much of the program is intuitive, so more often the issues to resolve were with hardware. Connexin Software paid attention to these problems and worked with me to resolve them expediently. For larger practices … there is a pre-implementation phase. This includes planning for both the hardware and networking, and for the psychological impact of change in an established practice. Connexin Software works with the leaders of the practice to develop strategies for a smooth transition. My system has never gone down in the year and a half of my use of Office Practicum. Support has been excellent, with Connexin Software responding to urgent needs immediately, and non-urgent problems within 24-hours. Use of remote control software (e.g. Symantec’s PC Anywhere) allows Connexin Software staff to view [your] computer and resolve issues quickly.”

Using Office Practicum: “I appreciate the customizable templates and phrase builders, and, uniquely, the pre-programmed templates [that are] relevant to pediatrics. There is no getting around the need to handle paper. Nonetheless, one can enter the relevant data into the program and then discard or scan. Either way, the actual physical paper is gone, and the information is ‘filed’ in some bytes of memory and easily retrieved. (Scanned items are grouped and categorized within the patient’s file.) The developer of Office Practicum, Fred Pytlak, has repeated his mantra to me several times over the last year and a half that a user should never have to input the same information more than once. The school form report generator is a great example of this: Never again will I have to copy the vaccine dates from one piece of paper to another. [In terms of portability], when I was working alone without staff, I carried my laptop EMR from my home office to my main office and saw patients wherever needed. Now, with a virtual static IP, I will soon be able to call in from any online computer and reach my office server.”

Benefits & Favorite Features: “There are a few features of this program that are of enormous value to a pediatric office. One is the report generator, which is customizable. This component will print out our Illinois Certificate of Child Health (school form) filling in all the necessary vaccine dates, vitals, labs and latest physical exam. Any form, which requires information from the program can be scanned-in and customized. The second unique and wonderful feature is the vaccine algorithm, based strictly on CDC guidelines. Having entered all prior vaccinations, the program provides current immunization requirements for the child on each visit. Vaccine inventory is tracked, with lot numbers inputted on receipt of the vaccine. When a child is immunized, the lot number is automatically recorded. The user is prompted for the Vaccine Information Statement date and it is recorded with two keystrokes. The third great feature is the growth chart, in which weight, height, head circumference, BMI are all plotted on standard charts. These are more accurate than can be plotted by hand and can be immediately viewed and printed out for the parent. Vital signs can be plotted over time as well, and this plotting is customizable, so that any numerical data can be tracked over time. The visual and structural layout of the program is intuitive, well organized and practical. A lot of thought has been put into this system, and how it might meet the needs of a busy pediatric medical practice. This thought appears in many ways, including new patient input. When a new patient is being entered into the system, the program automatically searches for the name and birth date. If a duplicate, or near duplicate, is found, a message pops up to alert the user.”

Practice Background: Dr. Stephens has been using Office Practicum since 2000. His practice was established in July 2000 and consists of two Physicians and six staff members. On an average busy day, 30 patients will visit Preferred Pediatrics. In the future, Dr. Stephens is hoping to expand and become a four-doctor practice.

Purchase Decision: “We were setting up our own practice and essentially starting a-new. We wanted an EMR because we knew it would give us the ability to access information and ensure that that information was accurate. We also believed that it would be a huge saving in terms of cost and efficiency by moving away from paper.

“In our search for a suitable EMR, we used the Internet to compare different [EMRs] and their different features. There were not many available that were appropriate or sufficient for pediatricians. Eventually we decided on two different EMRs, one being Office Practicum, and viewed demos of both. Office Practicum particularly appealed to my needs because it is designed around the needs of pediatrics. The other EMR was not impressive compared to Office Practicum. It was not Windows-based, did not have a billing module, and it simply didn’t address the real needs of pediatricians. It was clear that Office Practicum could really replace the paper chart and it was the best choice.”

Adapting to Office Practicum: “We didn’t receive much training when we began using Office Practicum and that was because it wasn’t really required. We taught ourselves how to use it very easily. It is a pretty intuitive program. We really only encountered issues that required quick questions, and with a call [to Connexin Software] we got an answer very quickly. Since we’ve been using the program we’ve only encountered one serious technical problem in our office and that was due to the blackout [in 2003] and not related to Office Practicum at all. We didn’t lose any data at all because we were fortunate enough to save the hard drives, and since then we haven’t had any further issues.”

Using Office Practicum: “The integration of the EMR portion with the billing module eliminates the need for taking the charges I write and re-entering them separately. This saves a huge amount of labor and frees my staff from needless repetition. The vaccine algorithm is extremely helpful in identifying deficiencies in patients’ vaccines. Also, another thing I really like about Office Practicum is that it is very customizable to fit the way your practice works.”

Personal Benefit: “I experience a lot of personal benefits from Office Practicum because I have free time now. There are no piles of charts at the end of the day to file and no stacks of charts with little yellow phone message notes stuck to them for me to call back. At the end of the day, the work is up-to-date so I am free to do other things. If a doctor was interested in an EMR, I would recommend Office Practicum for the fact that it is tooled for pediatrics, extremely easy to learn to use, and it results in huge cost-savings.”

Practice Background: Harriet Hellman has been using Office Practicum since 2002. Hampton Community Health Care is a bilingual independent nurse practitioner practice, with one full-time and two part-time NP’s. There are also two full-time and two part-time receptionists, and two part-time medical assistants. The practice was established in 1995 and now provides care for over 5,000 registered patients from birth to age 23. In an average busy day, each NP will attend to between 18 and 27 patients.

Purchase Decision: “The increased burdens of paperwork, lot numbers recording, inventory maintenance, and the time of manually writing charts on all patients seen had become an astronomical burden. I saw a demonstration of Office Practicum in a pediatrician colleague’s office and I was so impressed by the ease and facility of the program that I purchased it within a month. The templates, vaccine information, ease of printing records and reports for WIC, schools and prescriptions were selling points and have addressed my needs completely.”

Adapting to Office Practicum: “The period of change and initiation took two weeks in my office. In one month we were all running very smoothly. My staff and I trained at different times via PC Anywhere [remote] with our trainer, who was very available, and very, very knowledgeable about provider and support staff issues. [The trainer] was very happy to help us customize what we needed for our support staff. I cannot speak highly enough about our training experience. Client support is excellent. Our issues are resolved immediately and without problem. Again, I not only have no complaints, I cannot say enough praise.”

Personal Benefits: “The most important thing that Office Practicum has done for me is given me my life back. I love the system. I used to spend four hours a day on charting, writing letters to consultants, and paperwork, which I no longer spend. I got four hours back for my family and me. I can feel reassured about patient safety and correct communication as I take a call from my home and directly access the patient’s record with immediate entry abilities and access to drug allergies or patient information.”

Practice Background: Dr. Berman has been using Office Practicum since 2001. He and his wife opened their primary care practice straight out of residency in 2001. They have 1,500 active patients and employ four staff members, all of whom use Office Practicum. They work part-time days during which time they attend to 30-40 patients.

Purchase Decision: “We always knew we wanted an EMR for its functionality and analysis capabilities. We spent six months looking, including sample programs, Internet trials, and a short-lived attempt at writing our own software. It was immediately apparent that Office Practicum stood head and shoulders above other programs in both functionality and affordability.”

Adapting to Office Practicum: “We had no transition from a paper-based office since we started our practice with Office Practicum. We’ve had no serious technical problems, and even the minor issues are addressed promptly. The Connexin Software staff is very responsive.”

Using Office Practicum: “I can’t say which features are most helpful because so many of them are invaluable. Automated vaccine logic is wonderful. Growth charts are used constantly. Coding and billing are very streamlined. The review of systems and medicine management features make it easy to track children with chronic diagnoses and multiple sub-specialists. Phone messages are easy to document and pass around the office staff. Templates for well and sick children take most of the pain out of documentation.”

Personal Benefits: “We have no ‘before or after’ comparison because we used Office Practicum from the start [of our practice], but I can’t imagine practicing without it. Just in the time spent generating and reading patient records instead of handwritten scribbling, it’s a tremendous boon to patient care. For anyone considering an EMR, I’ve not seen a better product than Office Practicum and I can hardly imagine one.”

"I have great news: Thanks to Office Practicum I got 98 out of 100 on chart review!"
- Dr. Geddy Krul, Union Pediatrics, Union, New Jersey, January 4, 2004

"I love the system. It has given me my life back, and when I started using it, I got four hours a day back to me and my family. I still care for poor kids and do it very completely and well, yet it means I have to budget. Thanks for making it possible."
- Harriet Hellman CPNP, FACNP, Hampton Community Health Care, Watermill, New York

"Ten years ago when I started my pediatric practice in lower Manhattan, one of my goals, besides delivering quality care, was to have a paperless office. I decided on Office Practicum EMR. Ten years later I am still using this outstanding program, and it has allowed me to develop a four-practitioner practice caring for about 5000 patients. The software makes all the tedious aspects of charting and billing so much easier. It allows me to focus on my patients so I can enjoy my practice, just as the first day. It even gave me the time to write a baby book! As one of their oldest customers, I strongly recommend Office Practicum and Connexin Software for their excellence."
- Dr. Michel Cohen, Tribeca Pediatrics, New York, New York
(For information on Dr. Michel Cohen's latest book, The New Basics, A-to-Z Baby & Childcare for the Modern Parent, visit the website www.thenewbasics.com.)