The Center for Orthopedics Transform Surgical Scheduling in 30 Days with SurgiMate ESRM

Aug. 14, 2012 - PRLog -- NEW YORK, NY – SurgiMate, the market leader in surgical management solutions, applauds The Center for Orthopedics (CFO), a leading orthopedic practice in Northeast Ohio, for successfully transforming their surgical scheduling workflow in 30 business days  by implementing SurgiMate ESRM. SurgiMate will enable CFO to optimize their surgery scheduling and maximize their surgical revenue.

CFO, located on the west side of Cleveland, Ohio, were approaching their new Electronic Health Records (EHR) go-live date but elected to move ahead with their SurgiMate install prior to going live with their EHR. “I held up a ½ million dollar project in order to get SurgiMate installed before we went live with our EHR, Allscripts,” said Sheila Tonn-Knopf, Practice Manager. “That’s how important SurgiMate is for us. SurgiMate fills the gaps that the EHR cannot perform.”

The objective for installing SurgiMate ahead of their EHR was to ensure the surgical scheduling process was completely streamlined and automated before adopting another new system entirely. CFO chose SurgiMate to transform their surgical scheduling department to be a paper-less environment. This included automating all of their paperwork, digitalizing their surgical calendars, and putting an end to paper moving around the office across different departments.

“We were shifting the clinical side to become entirely electronic with a new EHR system,” said Chuck Danchik, Project Manager for the EHR implementation at CFO. “We then realized we needed to make the same switch in our surgical workflow and processes. We chose SurgiMate to automate and transform the entire surgical scheduling process and the way things flow throughout the office.”

But the task of implementing the SurgiMate project in such a limited period was challenging.

“We did not believe that it would be possible to get the project up-and-running in such a short time-frame,” said Cheryl Hunnicutt, Project Manager for the SurgiMate implementation at CFO, “but the implementations team at SurgiMate accomplished it. They were willing to do whatever had to be done in order to meet the deadlines.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Tonn-Knopf, “the team at SurgiMate worked tirelessly with my team in order to meet the demanding deadlines we set and they hit every deadline seamlessly.”

The Center for Orthopedics went live with SurgiMate on January 25, 2012, just 30 business days after their contract was finalized. The surgical schedulers began to book surgeries using SurgiMate that day and there was an immediate transformation in their workflow.

“There was a major difference in day-to-day work from the outset,” said Hunnicutt. “The schedulers are no longer completing paperwork by hand, the calendars in SurgiMate are synchronized with the surgeon’s Outlook calendar and their smart phones so they can view their schedule at any time, and there are drawers and drawers of charts that are now gone! Everything is now on SurgiMate and things are transferred through the office electronically as opposed to moving paper.”

“We are thrilled that we have been able to revolutionize the workflow at CFO in such a short time-frame,” said Rebecca Brygel of SurgiMate. “We commend the team at CFO for their enthusiasm and dedication towards the project and their commitment to improving their processes through technology.”

“This was a highly successful implementation, in record time,” said Danchik. “There has been nothing but a positive response from everyone in our office who is using SurgiMate.”

About SurgiMate:
SurgiMate is the market leader in surgical management solutions. Developed to cater to the unique needs of surgical practices, SurgiMate has been streamlining surgical practices in the United States for over 10 years. Orthopedic Practices choose SurgiMate to increase productivity, and manage their processes more efficiently and effectively.

For more information, visit www.SurgiMate.com, e-mail info@SurgiMate.com, or call (212) 923-5225

About The Center for Orthopaedics:
The Center for Orthopedics, part of Elyria Memorial Hospital (EMH) Regional Healthcare System, offers the most comprehensive bone and joint care in Cleveland's west side, western Cuyahoga County and Lorain County, Ohio. Complete orthopedic care is available from an expert team of five advance-trained, board-certified orthopedic surgeons at offices in Sheffield Village, Oberlin and Westlake, Ohio.

For more information, visit www.center4orthopedics.com, or call (440) 329-2800