Options within Logician include check boxes, drop down choices, multiple check options and free text. New electronic forms were created that offered all of these options for data input. In the fall physicians were again asked about their level of satisfaction. It had improved. Throughout the fall and winter and into spring the learning curve was hitting new plateaus.
Physicians continue to learn about the system and improvements are made to the encounter forms.
The difference is in the amount of clinical information that is available, and the way it is presented to base decisions on. Personnel from Medscape recently demonstrated new functionality that would simplify the documentation required by the new guidelines published by Medicare that go into effect July 1, 1998. The new form evaluates the physician's documentation according to the guidelines and gives them online advice about their documentation and coding. It simplifies the process of documenting the normals of the evaluation that must be present to substantiate the level of the exam process. Allina has chosen to be an Alpha partner with Medscape to evaluate the form functions.