An Ophthalmology Practice Sees Higher Value from its EMRs and Call Center

2020 Alliance sponsor feature article courtesy of Spectrum Enterprise

Tomoka Eye Associates is a thriving ophthalmology practice, catering mostly to seniors along the Florida coast. Along with three offices and a surgery center, its call center is a key asset, connecting Tomoka’s 100,000 patients with live operators.

Enterprise-wide responsiveness sets Tomoka apart in a competitive market, from the call center to electronic medical records (EMR) software that accelerates doctors’ ability to make treatment decisions. But prior to working with Spectrum Enterprise, their network infrastructure was inhibiting their potential to improve.

When Tomoka sought to implement an EMR software platform in 2014, it became clear the copper T1 lines connecting their offices to each other and the Internet couldn’t handle these large files. Meanwhile, the call center had gone from an asset to a potential liability, directing call overflow to an answering service that left patients waiting hours — if not days — for a reply. Even simple fixes could take weeks. Tomoka’s outdated technology was undercutting employee performance and threatening patient satisfaction.

Spectrum Enterprise solutions cleared a path to productivity, efficiency and an improved patient experience:

• An Ethernet Private LAN (EP-LAN) accelerates the performance of EMR software and other shared applications by connecting all offices with each other and with a 50 Mbps Fiber Internet Access (FIA) circuit at Tomoka’s main office.
• Patients enjoy a more comfortable reception area with Fiber Connect TV for Healthcare.
• Operators respond more quickly to patients thanks to Unified Communications, which includes features like a live dashboard that shows queued calls in real time.

CEO Bill Watson says that fiber unlocked the potential of Tomoka’s EMR software: faster billing, better use of doctors’ time and higher-quality patient care. In addition to a “night and day” difference in EMR performance, “Unified Communications gave our people the tools to be so much more to patients than call center reps. For this reason, we renamed the call center the ‘Patient Support Center.’”

Read the Spectrum Enterprise case study for a more detailed look at how Spectrum Enterprise is helping healthcare providers use Ethernet and Unified Communications to make better decisions and promote a patient-centric practice.