“WRS is easy for any provider to use and that’s why I really like it.”
Advanced Practice Nurse Heals all Wounds with State-of-the-art WRS EMR
Denise Schaff has carved a niche for her solo practice, NP Health Services in Toms River, NJ. In addition to being an Advanced Practice Nurse, she is a Certified Wound Specialist. She makes rounds at four nursing home facilities in Ocean County, NJ, treating patients who are over 18 years of age. With a patient load that ranges from 40 to 60 patients a week, it’s easy to see why she needed a state-of-the-art Nurse Practitioner EMR that would increase her efficiency and ensure a smooth workflow.
“WRS was the first EMR that I looked at and I immediately went with it. WRS EMR is for Nurse Practitioners. NPs can use it; it isn’t only for a doctor, WRS is easy for any provider to use and that’s why I really liked it,” said Schaff, who implemented WRS in 2011.
Noting in her EMR review that she opened her solo practice at the end of 2008, Schaff continued, “I document the wound and treat it and see if the patient gets better. I did medical (care) when I first came to WRS. I wanted the kind of note that WRS offers, because you can use it for medical purposes as well. It’s very easy. I get a lot of compliments. The note is well written, it is easy to read and it highlights all of the negatives (conditions). I don’t have to draw pictures. Basically you describe a wound in the narrative. I love using WRS. I knew there were wound (software) programs out there and I just didn’t want to limit myself to just wounds. I figured WRS EMR gives me the best of both.”
Price is a Big Deal
It’s no secret that NPs earn less income than physicians, so the price of an EMR is a crucial factor in the EMR selection process. Schaff, who has been an NP for 16 years, said, “WRS is definitely less expensive for NPs. I am a sole provider and WRS EMR is very reasonable; it isn’t ridiculously expensive. When I talk to other people about which EMR they use, a lot of people aren’t happy with their EMR and they pay a lot more money for it.”
E-Prescribing Incentives
Emphasizing that Medicare is her primary payer, Schaff said, “I have to be compliant with the standards that Medicare requests. You have to have an electronic medical record, even though the Meaningful Use incentive is for physicians. I can’t apply for MU because I’m an NP. I am not getting MU, but that’s okay because I just love the ease of WRS e-prescribing. Medicare does give NPs an incentive for e-prescribing. If you have e-prescribing, when you bill Medicare, you use a certain code to say that you sent the Rx electronically. Once a year, Medicare gives a bonus for that. I’ve received that incentive. WRS made it easier to do that. I didn’t want to just get an e-script software program, why not get the whole package with the medical record and everything? I love WRS e-prescribing capability. It’s wonderful.”
Easy Charting
Emphasizing in her review that she brings her laptop and a small printer to all of the nursing homes that she visits, Schaff said, “I don’t take my laptop into patients’ rooms. I write my information on paper, bring it to the desk and put everything into WRS after I leave the rooms. I print out my note and I put it on the chart and everybody is happy because they can read it,” she said.
Schaff added, “You see the same people every week until their wound heals. Basically it’s redundant because their medical history never changes. I make sure I review everything. If you have to change anything, you can. It’s not time consuming. WRS Nurse Practitioner EMR makes it easier. My patients may have complained of something last week, but they are not complaining this week, so I remove the complaint from the chart. WRS frees my time. Once you store all the information, it’s very easy to review if they are on a certain medication or if they came off of the medication. You can change it immediately. It’s very easy to do.”
We are Family
Learning to use a new EMR system can be intimidating. Not so with WRS. Noting that she did training with WRS over the computer and phone, Schaff said, “Training was very good. Resa (WRS Director of Clinical Services) is wonderful. I love her. She’s a Nurse and I loved that. Occasionally, I’ll email Resa with a clinical question and she will get right back to me. She’s great. She understands what I am saying. She helped me set up WRS the way I wanted it. The WRS Team is very easy to contact.”
Shelter From the Storm
With Hurricane Sandy clobbering the New Jersey shore in October 2012, many medical practices were in the dark, unable to access patients’ records. When Schaff went to the nursing homes she found that there were many new elderly patients. They had developed horrific wounds from being confined to their homes for several days. “I had more patients. I didn’t have Internet access because my cable was out from the storm, but the nursing homes had service because they were on generators. I was able to access WRS and log on from there,” said Schaff.
Take This Job and Love It
Reflecting on her past work experience, it’s apparent that Schaff has no complaints with her present situation. “I was working for a company that left the state. I took over what we were doing for that corporation and I was basically taking care of medical problems at the nursing home and also doing wounds care. I did that for a while and some doctors allowed me to take care of patients’ problems, but I wasn’t seeing that many people. I went for wound certification, which was very difficult to get. It required a lot of studying but I really love it. It is very satisfying for me to see things get better. It’s a unique practice. A lot of wound care specialists are podiatrists and they can only do wound care below the knee. I can do all wounds. I enjoy elderly patients especially. I always have,” stated Schaff.
Schaff expressed the same satisfaction with her EMR choice. “I recommend WRS to other people because a lot of them aren’t happy with the system they have. They are spending a fortune and I don’t understand that. I really like WRS. I have no complaints,” Schaff said.
Play Ball
Finally, as Schaff was winding down her WRS EMR review (she had to get to one of her two athletic sons’ baseball game) WRS got one last question in, does WRS give you time to get out on the field to see your sluggers hit? “Definitely. It’s simplified my life. Trust me. I was writing the same thing over and over again. The medical history usually doesn’t change, unless they add something new. WRS is easy to change and it’s easy to use. I put the information in WRS myself. It’s very simple to change insurance information. It’s very, very easy. I don’t know what to compare it to, but I wouldn’t look anywhere else. I’m very happy,” concluded Schaff. And, with that said, she was off to cheer at another ball game!