FFlex eSuite™ LIS » Testimonials

Customer Q&A: American Family Care

American Family Care (AFC), a multi-facility Family Practice operation headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, deployed the FFlex eSuite™ Laboratory Information System (LIS) to serve its central laboratory and ancillary clinics located throughout Alabama in the Spring of 2006. Established in 1982, AFC’s mission was to create a patient-centered practice by delivering high quality, convenient service to all of their patients throughout the state. Since 1984, AFC has grown to 19 medical centers and 21 practices in the state of Alabama.

Robert Black, Lab Director for AFC, opens up to us about how the investment in new technology, specifically their FFlex eSuite LIS, has impacted operation and facilitated AFC to continue its mission to serve patients across Alabama.

With regard to facilitating operations between your multiple facilities, explain how your workflow has been impacted since the deployment of your FFlex eSuite a year ago.

Our central lab in Birmingham has always handled chemistries, special chemistries and microbiology, with hematology tested at each clinic location. Before we deployed FFlex eSuite, our staff at each clinic site had to write each sample requisition by hand which impacted workflow and opened our system up to human error.  Now that the new LIS is fully deployed and integrated with our EMR, our physicians enter orders through the EMR, which tells the LIS to automatically generate labels at the desired location in real time. These barcoded labels contain information necessary to serve in place of handwritten requisitions when the sample is sent to the central lab. From an operational standpoint, we’ve eliminated many manual processes and the seamless integration of our EMR and FFlex eSuite has dramatically streamlined our efficiency.

With regard to your EMR interface, how would you describe the level of integration?

Integration between our EMR and LIS systems was imperative to maximizing our IT investment. Your implementation staff worked with our EMR vendor to provide a seamlessly integrated solution. Data is transmitted in real time and it has reduced the manual effort of our staff tremendously.

As the Lab Director, in what ways has FFlex eSuite improved your ability to manage your operation?

FFlex eSuite’s web-based design makes our multi-site operation function like one lab. For instance, I can sit in my office in Birmingham and review QC for every hematology instrument in each AFC clinic across the state. In addition, I can store approved QC electronically which allows me to stay organized without having to print paper copies. It not only saves paper, but saves me time and effort. For me personally, I have seen a 100-fold increase in my productivity.

What about your administrative effort? How has FFlex eSuite impacted the way you handle administrative maintenance on your system?

When you have 21 sites and you only have to maintain one database, the administrative effort is drastically reduced. For example, if you have to modify a test panel or add a new employee, I can do it from any location using my personal login and password. I only have to make the change one time and it is in effect for the entire system.

With so many remote clinics, describe your experience deploying the system and training your staff.

We went live on the system and brought up our remote clinics incrementally. The Fletcher-Flora implementation staff was extremely responsive and typically resolved issues faster than I anticipated. FFlex eSuite was so easy to deploy that when it came to going live at the last several sites, I was able to bring them up almost entirely on my own.

As for training, the staff was trained on-site when the system was first deployed. After that, our staff found the system so user-friendly that little additional training has been necessary. Since FFlex eSuite is browser-based, it navigates intuitively like many websites. This has been cost effective and time saving, especially as we add new staff.

How would you sum up your experience with Fletcher-Flora and FFlex eSuite?

With regard to technology, we were in the Stone Age two years ago. Since then we’ve made a considerable investment of time and resources with the purchase of new clinical equipment, a new EMR system and our FFlex eSuite LIS. Today, our business is leaps and bounds ahead of where it used to be. By far, the best investment we’ve made that has impacted our business the most is our FFlex eSuite LIS. Personally, my ability to manage the multiple sites has been streamlined by the design of the system. My staff recognizes that a reduction of manual effort saves time and makes their work much easier. Fletcher-Flora has consistently provided responsive and effective support. In the end, I’m really glad we chose FFlex eSuite.