DCMFM Set to Become First Data Sending Practice

The Delaware Center for Maternal and Fetal Medicine is poised to become the first medical practice in Delaware to report its results through DHIN and it is anxious to get started.

"We provide ultrasound and high risk consultation services for pregnant women throughout Delaware," says Liz Williams, Practice Manager. "Reporting our results through DHIN will not only save time for our staff and the referring practices; but best of all, it will greatly enhance treatment for the patients."

DCMFM is a subsidiary of Christiana Care. Its five physicians, five genetic counselors and three nurses treat a lot of patients and the reports they generate are faxed to referring providers. "What routinely happens is that a patient will go for a prenatal visit after having had services with us; but their results have not yet been uploaded into their file. They may have had an ultrasound or genetic testing; but the provider can’t see them. So, they have to call our office for another faxed copy. It wastes a lot of time," explained Stephanie Corsetti, Lead Genetic Counselor. “Most of our patients' primary care physicians and OBGYNs want to receive patient results through DHIN. It will greatly streamline the process."

Expected to Enhance Patient Safety
The largest referring practice for DCMFM is the Christiana Care Women's Health Clinic. Until now, results have been faxed to their office and a staff member manually posts them into the charts.
"Now, not only will physicians during routine visits have access to their results on DHIN; but in an emergency situation, any treating physician in the ER will see what their diagnosis was and what their care plan is. From a patient safety perspective, we feel that this will be a huge advantage," says Liz Williams.

DCMFM began the process of becoming a data sender late last year and is currently in beta testing with a projected go live date of September.

"Most of DCMFM's referring physicians routinely receive results from other laboratories through DHIN. Now they will also receive our results directly into their Electronic Medical Records (EMR). Ultrasound and genetic counseling reports as well as perinatal and pre-conception consultations are transcribed and will be sent through DHIN," says Liz. "Patients will be happy to learn that the results of their studies and tests will be available instantly to their other physicians. Since we're also offering services for chronic disease management, physicians want results in a timely manner."

DCMFM has been using DHIN for several years. Stephanie says the practice routinely accesses background information on DHIN prior to seeing a patient.

"We see patients for a multitude of reasons. Sometimes we'll know they're coming for one particular reason; but when we look on DHIN, we may see that they are a carrier of a genetic condition that we otherwise wouldn't know about. Now, with that information, we can counsel them more fully or offer them partner testing if we need to. It’s been invaluable to us in that sense."

More information about The Delaware Center for Maternal and Fetal Medicine is available on their website: http://www.dcmfm.com

A Conversation with Josh Vaught

Josh Vaught, CEO of Delaware Orthopaedic Specialists and longtime DHIN advisor, is being featured in an article about DHIN in the May issue of the Delaware Business Report. So we thought it would be appropriate to ask for his thoughts about how DHIN has affected his practice. Here’s what he had to say:

DHIN Saves Time and Aggravation
"Many of our patients know that they previously had an MRI or X-ray; but they don’t remember when or where it was done. Before DHIN, we had to call the various radiology practices or search on their sites. Now, we simply look at the patient’s file on DHIN and we have the report. It probably saves us 10 minutes per patient and that adds up to a lot over time."

Orthopaedic Practices Use DHIN Differently
"Unlike most providers, orthopaedic practices don't typically need lab results, except those ordered prior to surgery. We do look for current infections and we certainly depend on DHIN for radiology reports. Seeing 450 or more patients per day with nearly 80% needing MRIs, CTs or X-rays, we depend on DHIN to a very high degree."

The Value of DHIN
"With DHIN, our practice can accomplish a lot more with less. Our staff members are able to be much more efficient. Having a patient's medical information in one place and available instantly is a huge savings of time and has enabled us to reduce the number of full time employees that it takes to function. When we depended on faxed paper reports, retrieved and filed into the correct patient’s folder, it was time consuming, error prone and much less efficient."

Looking to the Future
"I'm very encouraged by the progress being made embedding links to actual radiology studies in DHIN along with the written report. Seeing the film will greatly enhance what we do. I'm also looking forward to the day when all of the provider electronic medical records communicate so that we get complete reports on DHIN from providers as well as from labs, hospitals and radiology firms. That will be challenging to accomplish, but it will profoundly improve the practice of medicine."

Finding Value
"Part of the value of DHIN is the way the organization has formed relationships so quickly and thoroughly throughout the state and even in nearby states. Doing so has helped speed the process and we are much farther along than many other programs. Delaware is on the forefront of the medical communications revolution and it’s very satisfying to be involved."

Joshua Vaught, MBA, is CEO of Delaware Orthopaedic Specialists, which has five offices in northern Delaware. Josh is a graduate of Caesar Rodney High School, the University of Delaware and Goldey Beacom College. He is a member of the Medical Group Management Association, the American Association of Orthopaedic Executives, the American College of Health Care Executives and the Health Information Management Board at Delaware Technical and Community College. He is a member of DHIN’s Clinical Advisory and Consumer Advisory boards. He lives with his wife and son in Hockessin.