Case Study - Highland Ophthalmology
How One Practice Not Just Survives, but Thrives
We visited Highland Ophthalmology Associates in New Windsor, NY in July to see how the practice is managing not just to survive, but to thrive.
Q: What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome this past year because of COVID-19?
The biggest challenge we have faced is getting back up to speed. COVID-19 slowed down the volume of patients and we had to devise a new way to make communication safe for ourselves and our patients. Safety was our #1 concern and we stayed diligent with the always fluid CDC guidelines. Some other challenges we faced were creating a system for telemedicine, as well as setting people up for remote workstations.
Q: Were there any partners or businesses that helped you along the way?
Microwize is our #1. They are always helpful, especially with applying their knowledge to research telemed companies for us. In addition, they made setting up remote workstations, personal computers, and even cell phone apps possible. SolutionReach was able to help us with patient communication. Vonage, which is our phone system, had a mobile app allowing our staff to conduct all business remotely.
Q: How has COVID-19 changed the way you do business?
Highland Ophthalmology tried to maintain a business-as-usual approach within the guidelines from the state and CDC. We adapted to our apps and working remotely, which has been a great benefit for inclement weather as well. Microwize made sure we could adapt quickly. Our billing office operated at 100%, with 75% of the team working remotely. Due to telemedicine and the apps, Dr. Huynh even started using the EMR charges function in Medisoft, which has been a great tool.
Q: What measures does your practice take for reducing your risk of a cyberattack?
Microwize plays a big part in monitoring our server usage. We work with them making sure our remote users are monitored, while also being sure to deactivate old domain users. IP addresses are monitored, and passwords will get changed if we feel anything nefarious is occurring. All our computers are shut down when not being used as a deterrent to any hackers. We created a shared spreadsheet between our office and Microwize listing our hardware, cloud users added, and which users have remote setups.
Q: How does your practice stay connected with patients?
We have found that consistently being there for our patients allows them seemingly unlimited access to reach us. We use SolutionReach to remind our patients of upcoming appointments, and we are currently re-doing our website to allow for more patient accessibility. Our patients also know they can receive most care through the telehealth services we offer. We have created an office culture and atmosphere surrounded and created by patient communication to give our patients the best quality healthcare we can deliver.
Q: In what ways are you preparing for the future of healthcare?
We have prided ourselves in innovation and cutting-edge surgical procedures, and now we also pride ourselves in the latest ophthalmic technologies including new instruments. We adapted to Covid by adopting a new virtual visual field technology, which allowed for decreased contamination during the time spent in the office–all with virtual reality technology. We have recently updated and purchased new ophthalmic instruments to increase accuracy and create a better office flow as well.
We are currently updating our website to give our patients the freedom to book their own appointments. We are looking into creating patient portals as well as increasing the use of EMR charges. Dr. Huynh does an excellent job utilizing the Medisoft application. All of our doctors utilize the app to keep an updated, real-time schedule of their patients for the current and upcoming days.
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