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Dr. Notes, Inc. Donates $2.6 Million in Products to Volunteers in Medicine Clinic

Posted on: Thursday, 21 July 2005, 15:01 CDT

Dr. Angel Garcia, CEO of Dr. Notes, a healthcare technology company focused on providing Electronic Health Records and clinical software solutions to aid physicians in improving patient care, announced today that his company would be donating the Dr. Notes software to Volunteers in Medicine Clinic. Volunteers in Medicine Clinic was started in 1994 by founder Dr. Jack McConnell with the goal of providing healthcare to those who were unable to obtain even basic healthcare services. The clinic, with the exception of six full-time employees, is staffed by retired medical professionals and other lay volunteers, and provides free medical, dental, vision and mental health care to low income families who otherwise have no access to healthcare. In 2004 the clinic provided medical and dental care for nearly 22,000 patient visits.

During his visit to the clinic, Dr. Garcia states, "I was extremely impressed by the quality of care provided by the clinic. The clinic provides as high quality care as I have seen over the last 20 years of private practice in Boca Raton, Florida." Dr. Notes has had its corporate headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida since the company was founded. Dr. Garcia was completely amazed at the good will and cooperation of the clinic volunteers in doing what "medicine is all about -really caring."

VIM could never have afforded the cost of the Dr. Notes Electronic Healthcare System. Dr. Frank Bowen, Medical Director of the Clinic, knows intimately the value of clinical data analyses that cannot be performed with paper charts. The local hospital realizes that many uninsured patients are being kept out of the emergency rooms, allowing the hospital to make significant donations to the clinic to continue to provide free healthcare services to the medically underserved population of the community. "Our patients are hard-working folks, sometimes holding down two jobs just to feed their families. They are not old enough for Medicare and not poor enough for Medicaid," says Margie Maxwell, VIM's Director of Development. "Most of the patients at the clinic are employees of hotels, golf courses, restaurants and other local businesses who support the tourist industry. In 2004, the clinic provided nearly 20,000 medical, dental, vision and mental healthcare visits."

Dr. Bowen states, "With the new Dr. Notes Electronic Health records, the clinic will be able to perform the necessary clinical data analysis to obtain the funds that will continue to keep the doors of the clinic open." Dr. Bowen also wants to be able to measure outcomes for continuous quality improvement, rapid access to patient records, allow more space for patient care by eliminating the existing paper records space, and protect patient records from disaster such as hurricane, flood, or fire.

Dr. Bowen selected Dr. Notes because of its ease of use, clinical workflow, and standardization features. He feels that it is extremely important that the many physicians that take care of each patient have standardized treatment protocols as well as a consistent method of communication among providers. Since the clinic has five disease management programs including diabetes and hypertension, it is critical that the entire medical team supporting these programs be kept informed.

Volunteers in Medicine of Hilton Head Island, SC is the first of over 41 clinics that have opened across the United States to support the 45 million Americans who are uninsured. There are approximately another forty more VIM Clinics that are currently being formed or developed.

VIM expects to install Dr. Notes at the end of October 2005 with help from several foundation grants. They are hoping to receive a grant to purchase about thirty stationary workstations, fifteen pen tablets, a very hefty server and some printers and scanners. Once the hardware is installed, implementation and training of Dr. Notes Electronic Health Records will take approximately six months. The clinic expects to be completely chartless within 12 to 18 months of implementation.

VIM's Vision Statement is:

"May we have eyes to see those who are rendered invisible and excluded, open arms and hearts to reach out and include them, healing hands to touch their lives with love, and in the process, heal ourselves."

Dr. Notes Mission Statement is:

"Dr. Notes marks the beginning of the healthcare revolution. Those providers who strive for excellence will practice better medicine at lower costs. The success of our clients and the welfare of their patients are reflections of our commitment and dedication. The friendship and appreciation of those we serve are the foundations of our progress."

It is no wonder these two entities found each other.

Source: Business Wire

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