OD Story: Making Modern Changes in a 30 Year Career

We're always happy to hear about how our products are supporting our customers and improving the overall satisfaction of their staff. When Dr. Scott Helgeson shared his story about his long-term success in eyecare, we were all ears.

Dr. Helgeson has worked as an optometrist in the Rio Grande valley area of south Texas for 30 years now. With a longstanding reputation in the area, he found success using paper documentation for the majority of his career. However, his mind about paper records changed when a colleague turned him onto Uprise EHR & PM.

Here's a snippet of his story, or read the full case study here.

How Dr. Helgeson OD Switched from Paper to EHR

HelgesonHis practice is largely family eyecare with about 75 percent routine care and contacts and 25 percent medical care. They used paper records for 21 years until May 2019, when they switched over to Uprise EHR and Practice Management software. Upgrading his software was essential to helping him hire associate ODs, boost revenue and feel prepared to expand his practice.

When his practice was still using pen and paper, a lot of his time was devoted to chart reviews and billing. Uprise has freed up his time for patient care and improved office and time management overall. Dr. Helgeson was resistant to making this change because he was actually happy with paper records, but now he's a big supporter of EHR. Naturally, he was motivated by his desire to adapt and update his practice to keep up with peers and new graduates. They felt lucky to have switched over before the pandemic hit.

helgeson

Everything was a fresh start and required a steep learning curve for Dr. Helgeson, but the Uprise implementation team dedicated enough one-on-one teaching sessions for him, whereas his associates didn’t need any training because they had used similar software in school and in other jobs. Although the prospect of go-live was anxiety inducing, using the software day-to-day ended up being much easier than training on the technicalities. Despite having little background on EHR technology, it only took him 2-4 weeks to feel fully competent.

If you're feeling unsure about switching from paper to EHR, read Dr. Helgeson's full story here.

 

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