“I definitely recognize the fact that there was a need for recording of the conversations, but not only to record it to protect the doctors in a medical malpractice situation, but also to protect the patients, so that the patient can actually go back and listen to the conversation and hear the things that the doctor instructed them to do,” Dr. Nusbaum says.
Physicians also have the ability to order transcripts for each call, or have the system automatically create transcripts for all calls. Users can request a computer-generated version, a version transcribed by a live person, and a version transcribed by several people and scrubbed for complete accuracy.
There is also a patient-to-physician secure messaging service, as well a physician-to-physician messaging service, which has allowed discharges to happen more quickly.
“The rates of stay are decreasing because they’re able to say, ‘I already saw your patient so-and-so in such-and-such room and this is what the plan is and we’re going to be able to get her out tomorrow,’” Dr. Nusbaum says. Without the convenience of the messaging system, “the doctor might not have gotten that information” and the patient might have stayed in the hospital longer.
Patients also have the ability to get reminders on taking medications and receive recommendations based on standard guidelines for preventive care—like reminders to have a colonoscopy or a mammogram.
Flexible Tool for Practices
The system was just completed at the beginning of 2011 and launched to the general public in early 2012.
The cost is $29.95 per month for a group of up to four doctors; $49.95 for a group of five to nine; and $79.95 for a group of 10 or more. The secure messaging service is free, Dr. Nusbaum says.
He says about half of the clients use MedXCom around the clock as their answering service. The system is set up to call certain on-call physicians at certain times, so a patient is always able to reach a physician—or other health professional or office staffer, depending on the nature of the call—or leave a message.
Peter Salas, MD, a plastic surgeon in West Orange, N.J., says he switched about five months ago after talking to the creators of the system about it.
“I wasn’t happy with the answering service that I had anyway,” he says. “They took a long time to answer.” Plus, he wasn’t getting some of his messages, he says.
