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Running a successful medical practice is a lot of work, and complying with the complex requirements of government agencies and the insurance industry makes it even more of a challenge. As medical professionals are asked to provide better documentation with limited resources, they need a system in place that can provide this information quickly, accurately and efficiently.

American Medical Software (AMS), headquartered in Edwardsville, Illinois, provides a number of products designed to help physicians streamline the financial aspects of their practices. Their Medical Management System provides the tools needed for doctors to track revenue, while their Electronic Patient Charts System ensures patients’ quality of care while also saving employees time pulling and re-filing charts. The Appointment Scheduling Module enables doctors to maximize patient loads, while improving efficiency and time management.

“Back in 1984, our president, W. David Scott, was a computer programmer designing customized programs for a variety of businesses,” explained AMS Marketing Director Bob Bridgman about how the company got its start. “A physician approached him about writing a billing program to help him run his office more efficiently, and David realized that there was a big need for this type of product in the medical arena.”

Since that time, AMS has helped hundreds of practices become more efficient. “What our products do primarily is eliminate duplication and a lot of human error, especially on the medical records side,” said Bridgman. “It also saves employees a tremendous amount of time in pulling charts and re-filing, and in looking for charts that have been misfiled.”

The software also provides for better tracking of patients, and ensures that insurance claims are filed in a timely manner. “Using the old way, physicians would send claims out, wait six weeks, and then have them returned because something was inaccurate. Then they’d have to resubmit them,” said Bridgman. “Now, because everything is done electronically, claims bounce back immediately if they are inaccurate and the problem can be fixed right away.”

The company’s three main products can be bought separately, or as an integrated system under the title Practice Management Plus. This AMS system also includes a Handheld Pocket PC Module that allows physicians to enter notes, write prescriptions, and create an electronic charge encounter from wherever they see a patient.

“I have been able to maintain a high level of efficiency and productivity with less staff than most offices my size due to the use of this EMR system,” said Akinyemi Ajayi, MD, D, ABSM of Orlando Pediatric Pulmonary and Sleep Associates PA. “My practice runs very smoothly and the immediate availability of all of my medial records data allows for efficient performance of all of the workers in my practice.”

“In the three years that I have been using the product, AMS has made several changes and upgrades, and have listened to my opinions on ways to improve the system,” he added.

Even more important to some clients than the software is the training that comes along with it. “We provide 90 days of technical support, and also assign a trainer specifically to each practice for web training,” explained Bridgman. “During this training, we learn what makes each practice unique and tailor the product to meet their needs. We have a lot of ability to customize this software and to tweak it to do what they want it to do.”

The company also provides clients on an annual support contract with any updates they need as changes are made in the medical field. “We stay up-to-date on changes in HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) regulations, Medicare requirements, etc.,” said Bridgman. “As we get these changes from the government or other agencies, we incorporate them into the software and our clients can go out to the web site and download the updates.”

All of the company’s software has built-in security to ensure patient confidentiality, and also has audit tracking in place so that owners can see who has been using the system and what files they have accessed. “If a patient wanted to know who was looking at his records, the audit trail would identify who accessed those records and why,” said Bridgman.

Despite the large number of features each product offers, Bridgman says that AMS software is still affordable, especially for small clinic environments. “We feel that we are the best value on the market,” he said. “When you look at the number of features, the ease of day-to-day use, the reliability and the level of reporting to track revenue sources, you can see that it’s more than a basic billing system. We have listened to our clients over the past 20 years and continually made the product better. And the level of support we offer gives them even more bang for their buck.”

“It’s really rewarding for us to watch as the practices we serve grow and improve,” he added. “We’re proud of what we do, and we take our clients seriously. We’re driven by their success.”