1. FRIDAY
December 23, 2005
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PETER MONSEES/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Michael Fishweicher at a Saddle Brook seminar explaining how MicroWize Technology can create a paperless office system.
End ofthe paper trail
Doctors put patient records on computers
By DUNSTAN PRIAL
STAFF WRITER
Dr.James Mauti's medical office is no-
table for its spare elegance.
Handsome leather chairs and a flat-
screen television greet patients in the sun-
ny waitingroom. Inside the doctor's per-
sonal office is a large wooden desk
adorned with a telephone, a laptop com-
puter and another portable computer
called a tablet On hiswall isa second flat-
screen television.
Thereis no clutter. There are no pens,
no {>f!Dcils, no manila folders and no filing
cabinets.
In fact, Mauti's office is virtually paper-
less thanks to a decision he made a year
and a halfago when he opened his sports
medicine practice in Springfield.
Thedoctor,who completedhisresiden·
cy atSt.Joseph's Regional Medical Center
in Paterson, is at the forefront ofa nation-
al movement toward transferringpatients'
medical files from paper to computers.
The shiftto electronic medical records,
which most doctors acknowledge is in-
evitable, raises a number of thorny issues,
however.
Privacy issues are ofmajor concern to
many,as are the costsofconvertingoldpa-
per records - $20,000 to $30,000 by most
estimates.
Also ofconcern is the time and effort it
will take to transfer all that information
into computers. And many doctors reared
on pen andpaper are reluctant to embrace
the difficult transition to an electronic fil-
ingsystem.
Dr. Adam Lesiczka, a general practi-
tioner in Wallington, said he was leery of
the projected two-year transition. Never-
theless, hesaidhe'sleaningtowardmaking
the switch.
"This is the wave of the future, and at
some point it will probably be required.
Writing notes for seven or eight hours a
day is too much, and this is a way to stay
ahead ofthegame,"said Lesiczka, who at-
tended arecenttrainingseminarsponsored
See DOCTORS Page B-2

3. Doctors1(
i l·
O~ From Page B·l
llio bY MicroWize Technology,-a Hacken-
sack company that helps doctors
switchto a paperless office system.
The most proniinent North Jersey
companyin the business of electronic
medical records is Elmwood Park-
based Erndeon (fonnerly WebMD),
which has a subsidiary that helps doc-
tors maintain everything from patient
' · data to billing records. Emdeon's mar-
ket cap is roughly $3 billion.
'o For patients who want to consoli-
P date their medical records in a single
rn electronic file, a San'Francisco-based
o company called Medero Inc., which is
1; affiliated with the American Medical
a, Association, has created a Web site at
ihealthrecord.org where families can
organize and maintain their health
records online.
The files are accessed using a pass-
word, which can be provided to doc-
'° tors thefamily chooses.
~ Supporters ofthe shift to electronic
" medical records run the political
gamut, from former Republican
Speaker ofthe House Newt Gingrich
to New York's Democratic Sen.
HillaryRodham Clinton.
President Bush has called for
the adoption ofstandards for electron-
ic health records within the. next
10years.
Mauti didn'tneed to be prompted
by the government
"I went soup to nuts. I didit all," he
said. "Everything in medicine is docu-
mentation,and thisisthe newwaveof
medicine."
Using software called MediNotes, a
Microsoft Windows-based program,
patients can provide their medical his-
toiy and fill out insurance forms from
their homes by logging on to Mauti's
Website.
That saves time during office visits,
Mauti explained, because the forms
are already filled outand Mautiis able
toreview them before patients arrive.
Everything goes into the electronic
medical file - the date and reason for
the visit, prescnbed medications, aller-
gies, pastillnesses. Mauti even includes
a photo ofthe patientso he can match
a face to the name when the patient
arranges a follow-up visit.
Mautiuses Medisoft, anotherWm-
dows-based software program com-
patible with MediNotes, to maintain
bis billin files.
Seate~at his desk, he can flip open
his laptop and reviewthefiles ofallhis
patients on the flatscreen on the wall.
While examining patients,he carries
the tablet, a 10-incbby 12-inch device
into which he enters new information
obtained during the examination.
Even Mauti's blood pressure and
electrocardiogram machines arewired
into bis computer system.
Everything is stored on bis network
server located on the top shelf of the
closet in his office. Naturally, every-
thing is backed up on other systems in
case ofan emergency. Moreover, Mau,.
ti said his entire property is surround-
ed by a double firewall to keep out
hackers.
The whole system - the computers,
pririters,flatscreens and accessories, as
well as installation and training - ran
Mauti about $50,000.
Mauti purchased his software sys-
tem and received his training from
MicroWize. The doctor said he pays
M:icroWize $2,000 to $3,000 a year for
technical support, software upgrades
and additional training.
''I kind ofwent above ~d beyond
what mightreally have been needed,"
Mauti said. "But I wanted the system
to be as effective as possible."
The doctor said his electronic sys-
tem saves him the cost ofthree orfour
additional administrative employees,
each of whom would receive a salary
of between $30,000 and $40,000.
And thosefigures don't take into ac-
count the amount oftime he said his
electronic system saves him. "You
can't put a price tag on time," he not-
ed.
E-mail: prial@northjersey.com
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