Volume 3
May, 2006

Contents

Win a Free iPod

Blood Pressure Brought Down by Computers

Your Most Important Relationship Begins Here

Hang Up and Smile

Making Appointments
Online Will Be Music
To Your Ears.

Enter to win a free iPod at www.soundfamilymedicine.com

It’s so convenient scheduling your appointments online. And for a limited time it’s also groovy. That’s because from now until June 30, 2006, we’re giving away a free iPod to one lucky patient. You can also increase your odds of winning when you register for SFM E-Communication or retrieve test results online. So simplify your life, enjoy occasional educational health news and you may find yourself grooving to the sweet sounds of a free iPod.
 

Blood Pressure Brought
Down By Computers

If there’s a company that recognizes a bright idea, it’s General Electric. So when they heard that Sound Family Medicine had used GE’s Centricity Digital Health Record System to improve diastolic blood pressure control in our hypertensive patients, they were so impressed that they gave us an award.

What’s the GE Centricity system? In its most basic use, it’s a computerized medical records system linked to all three of Sound Family Medicine’s locations. That alone makes it a powerful tool. Care providers can immediately access a patient’s full record whether the patient is seeing his usual doctor, or a different provider at any of the SFM offices.

But we’ve been able to do a lot more than that with it. The traditional system of charting and recording a patient’s symptoms, diagnoses and treatments in a paper file makes it difficult for physicians to get a handle on the bigger picture. But, by using the Centricity system, our physicians can easily search the database for patients who will benefit from additional care.

Case in point: Last summer, SFM used the Centricity system to search for patients with recent diastolic readings above recommended levels. If left unchecked high blood pressure can lead to heart attacks or strokes. The clinic was able to follow up with these patients and provide advice that helped them achieve better blood pressure control. We were able to reduce the number of blood-pressure patients with less than ideal diastolic blood pressure control by 20 percent.

“When we purchased and started using our EMR (electronic medical records), we anticipated the time when we could use this tool to more closely monitor our patients for ways to improve their health. We are really excited that we are now able to not only provide an accurate and timely record of patient care, but to help us help our patients achieve better long-term control of medical problems like high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol. We expect that we will be able to help our patients lead longer and healthier lives using this information management technology,” said Dr. Ed Pullen, medical director for Sound Family Medicine.

SFM also participates in the Medical Quality Improvement Consortium (MQIC) a nation-wide collaborative group of over 3,500 physicians using the GE Centricity Digital Health Record System focused on measuring and improving patient care. MQIC allows the practice to compare their own record of outcomes with other health care providers, and to translate their findings into better patient care. It was the participation in this group that led to the presentation of the prestigious Excellence Award in Quality Improvement for 2005 to Sound Family Medicine.
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Your most important relationship begins here.

What makes having your baby so special at Sound Family Medicine is the personal relationship that we develop with you, our patient. Since we offer family-oriented birthing experiences, your family and support partners are welcome at prenatal visits, to see the first ultrasound, to hear the baby’s heart beat and at every memorable moment.

And after you welcome your bundle of joy into the world, we’re with you every step along the way. From your first well-baby checkup to your well-mommy follow-up appointment, our family practitioners will be with you providing personal, high-quality healthcare throughout your life.

Click here to meet our Docs who Deliver, check our our Delivery Stats or find out about our free pregnancy test.

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Hang Up And Smile

Sound Family Medicine understands that the quality of your experience at our clinic isn’t limited to the time you spend with your care provider. What happens before and after you see your provider is an important part of our quality of care.
 
With that in mind, we’re making some improvements, beginning with our phones. Beginning May 15th, we’ll implement a new phone system that will let us do things we couldn’t before. For instance, we’ll be able to monitor call volume into the clinic, and then add or decrease the staff needed to answer incoming calls quickly and efficiently.
 
Our staff is currently receiving training to make the most of this new phone system and is excited to work with it. We know you’ll be just as enthusiastic when you notice the difference it makes.

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