American Family Care (AFC) has established itself as a leading urgent care provider across four Southeastern states. With over 40 clinic locations, AFC delivers a broad spectrum of medical services, from urgent and primary care to family and occupational medicine. Notably, their commitment extends to offering specialized programs such as a dedicated American Family Care Weight Loss Program, reflecting their holistic approach to patient health. To support this wide range of services and ensure efficient patient care, AFC partnered with Experity, implementing their EMR/PM system to overcome operational challenges and enhance clinic workflows. This case study explores how Experity’s solutions enabled AFC to optimize their operations, improve patient experiences, and position themselves for continued growth, supporting their ability to deliver comprehensive care including specialized services like their weight loss program.
Founded in 1982 and headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, American Family Care operates numerous walk-in clinics across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee. Each clinic serves between 40 to 175 patients daily, highlighting the high-volume, fast-paced environment AFC manages. Their extensive staff of 900, including 150 providers and nurse practitioners, delivers a diverse array of services. These offerings span from urgent care for immediate medical needs to primary and family medicine for ongoing health management, occupational medicine, and workers’ compensation visits. Beyond these core services, AFC distinguishes itself by providing specialized care, including general surgery clinics, in-clinic U-Save Pharmacies, and the american family care weight loss program, demonstrating their commitment to addressing a wide range of patient needs within their communities.
In 2013, AFC’s acquisition of Doctors Express solidified its position as the second-largest privately held urgent care operator in the United States, showcasing significant growth and expansion. However, this growth also underscored the limitations of their existing Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system. AFC encountered significant latency issues with their previous EMR vendor, forcing staff to resort to paper-based documentation for parts of their workflow. This inefficient system created repetitive steps and hindered their ability to fully leverage digital tools for patient care and administrative processes. Furthermore, the system’s limitations prevented physicians from attesting for Meaningful Use, a critical aspect of healthcare incentives and compliance. Recognizing these challenges, American Family Care initiated a search for a more robust and efficient EMR solution to support their expanding operations and commitment to high-quality, comprehensive patient care, encompassing all their services including the american family care weight loss program.
The need for a new EMR system became critical as American Family Care’s growth amplified the inefficiencies of their existing vendor. A primary concern was the inadequate IT support for their self-hosted, server-based software. System delays and a lack of flexibility forced staff to document patient information on paper while waiting for the EMR system to respond or for access to patient charts. This cumbersome process led to duplicated workflows and wasted valuable time across all clinic locations. Dr. Glenn Harnett, Chief Medical Officer for AFC, explained, “We were using paper and an EMR, and doing a lot of double work, going from paper to EMR—and re-entering documentation.” This dual documentation process not only slowed down patient care but also increased the potential for errors and inconsistencies in patient records.
“We were using paper and an EMR.” — Dr. Glenn Harnett, Chief Medical Officer
Beyond workflow inefficiencies, AFC aimed to support their physicians in attesting for Meaningful Use incentive programs, a goal hindered by their previous EMR’s limitations. The system lacked the necessary features to meet Meaningful Use measures, impacting both financial incentives and compliance standards. Training staff to effectively utilize the EMR system also presented a significant challenge. The unintuitive navigation and complex features made it difficult for staff to maximize the EMR’s potential, further contributing to operational inefficiencies. These combined factors, including system lags, inflexibility, and training difficulties, convinced AFC leadership that transitioning to a new EMR system was essential to improve clinic operations and continue providing comprehensive patient care across all their services, including specialized programs like the american family care weight loss program.
Dr. Glenn Harnett, Chief Medical Officer, spearheaded the search for a new EMR system. Drawing on his extensive experience in emergency medicine and familiarity with industry-leading EMRs, Dr. Harnett meticulously evaluated over 30 EMR systems for American Family Care. His priorities included an urgent care-focused, cloud-based system certified for Meaningful Use, and a truly digital, mobile EMR solution. After a thorough evaluation process, Experity emerged as the clear choice.
“[Experity] won out because of the chart room screen,” Dr. Harnett stated. “I was able to look at that chart room and see how we could actually utilize it to manage patient flow, not just the physicians, but everybody in the facility—from an x-ray tech, to a lab tech, to a nurse, to a doctor, to the office manager. They’re all looking at the same screen in real time.” Experity’s chart room offered a comprehensive, real-time overview of patient flow throughout the clinic, allowing all staff members to stay informed and coordinated. This bird’s-eye view provided instant updates on the status of each patient and helped identify and address bottlenecks proactively.
Experity’s software responsiveness also addressed the critical issue of system speed. “I needed speed. We didn’t have to point, click, and wait. We could point, click, and go with [Experity],” Dr. Harnett noted. This rapid response time allowed providers to document patient encounters efficiently, even with multiple users accessing the same chart simultaneously. Furthermore, Experity’s system enabled AFC providers to successfully attest for Meaningful Use, resolving a significant challenge with their previous EMR. The selection of Experity was pivotal in streamlining AFC’s operations and enhancing their ability to deliver efficient and comprehensive patient care, supporting all their services including the american family care weight loss program.
Switching to Experity EMR provided American Family Care with the mobile and efficient platform they needed to optimize patient care. The implementation of Experity has led to significant improvements across various aspects of AFC’s operations, including reduced patient turnaround times, enhanced documentation processes, increased revenue, and successful Meaningful Use attestation by providers.
Time Savings and Staffing Efficiencies
Since transitioning to Experity, AFC has achieved a remarkable reduction in patient turnaround times. Dr. Harnett estimates that an average of 10 to 15 minutes has been saved per patient visit, decreasing the total patient time from 75 minutes to 60 minutes on average. This time savings is largely attributed to the elimination of paper-based documentation. Staff no longer needs to document on paper initially and then re-enter the information into the EMR system. This streamlined documentation process allows AFC to accommodate more patients within the same operational hours. “I needed a system a doctor could capably see and document patients — that would allow them to get the patients in and out in a timely fashion and safely,” Dr. Harnett emphasized. The efficiency gains from Experity have enabled providers to see approximately one additional patient per hour compared to their previous workflow.
Experity’s discharge instructions feature further contributes to time savings and efficiency. This feature eliminates the need for providers and staff to manually create patient education materials, while also ensuring compliance with legal requirements. Staff can easily select pre-written instructions, customize them as needed, and provide them to patients for reference. Dr. Harnett noted that the discharge instructions are comprehensive, stating they are “similar to what I would write myself,” highlighting the quality and thoroughness of these pre-built resources.
Flexibility and Customization
Experity’s mobile capabilities have transformed clinical workflows at AFC. Previously, clinical staff were restricted to desktop computers for documenting patient visits. Dr. Harnett’s vision of staff utilizing tablets for mobility within the clinic has become a reality with Experity. “The staff loves it. They love having the tablets. They can access and use [Experity] from anywhere in the clinic. They can sit in the break room and finish a note. They aren’t tied to one spot,” he shared. The tablet-based format not only enhances staff flexibility but also positively impacts patient perception. Dr. Harnett observed, “It impresses people. Electronically prescribing, using software on a screen, and never pulling a pencil out of your pocket, that impresses people. It gives the patients the sense we are on the cutting-edge of medicine and technology.” This modern approach enhances patient confidence and comfort.
Beyond mobility, Experity offers significant customization options. “I like the fact we can design our own templates,” Dr. Harnett added. “I can build them in a way that I wanted them; to customize them was important to me.” Experity provides a library of pre-made templates based on common urgent care scenarios, which can be easily modified to suit individual provider preferences. This customization extends to system interfaces as well. “All our lab results are brought electronically into the system. None of that is done on a piece of paper. It’s all directly downloaded into the patient chart,” Dr. Harnett explained. AFC plans to further expand system interfaces to optimize workflow efficiency, enhancing their ability to deliver comprehensive services, including specialized programs like the american family care weight loss program.
“It’s so intuitive out of the box. Experity looks like what a doctor thinks an EMR should look like.” — Dr. Glenn Harnett, Chief Medical Officer
Ease of Implementation and Scalability
American Family Care’s large-scale implementation of Experity was remarkably efficient. They successfully launched Experity in 26 clinics within just nine weeks. This rapid rollout was facilitated by a phased approach, starting with beta testing Experity in several clinics for one to three months. During this beta phase, AFC refined their workflows to maximize Experity’s capabilities. With Experity’s support and AFC’s internal training team, they implemented the system across their remaining clinic locations in a phased manner.
AFC leveraged the implementation period to make broader organizational improvements in their procedures to further enhance efficiency. “We just didn’t implement [Experity]. We made sure policies were being followed, and came up with ideas to make us more efficient that made the patient experience even better,” Dr. Harnett stated. Experity’s support throughout the implementation process was crucial to its success. “The nice thing for us was having that support and having the [Experity] people on the implementation process, understanding the stresses and challenges,” Dr. Harnett added. “Experity made it pretty simple. I knew after the staff got used to it, they wouldn’t want to go back to the old system.” True to his prediction, staff feedback highlighted Experity’s ease of use as a major advantage over their previous EMR. Other favored features included Experity’s chartroom, patient status globes for tracking patient progress, and the elimination of paper-based workarounds.
A study conducted by graduate students at the University of Alabama – Birmingham revealed that 91% of AFC’s staff (physicians, clinical staff, and billers) felt Experity improved their job performance. Additionally, 95% agreed that Experity reduced charting time, and 90% strongly agreed they received adequate training to use Experity effectively. Dr. Harnett emphasized the user-friendliness of the system, stating, “It’s so intuitive out of the box. [Experity] looks like what a doctor thinks an EMR should look like.” To ensure effective staff training, AFC developed their own Learning Management System (LMS), integrating Experity’s training resources with their internal training methods and policies.
Meaningful Use Attestation
A primary driver for AFC’s EMR switch was to achieve Meaningful Use attestation. Their previous system and operational challenges prevented them from capturing the necessary data for attestation. Experity’s fully integrated EMR and PM system is Drummond Group Certified for Meaningful Use, providing the required functionalities. Dr. Harnett reported that 95% of their full-time physicians successfully attested for Meaningful Use in 2012 using Experity. “Meaningful Use is not even something we have to work at [with Experity],” he noted. AFC has successfully passed two audits by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services related to their physicians’ Meaningful Use participation, further validating the effectiveness of Experity in this area.
“Meaningful Use is not even something we have to work at [with Experity].” — Dr. Glenn Harnett, Chief Medical Officer
Final Thoughts
“I can truly say that I couldn’t be happier with our decision to utilize the Experity system. The experience, the support, and the relationships we have made with the Experity people have far exceeded my expectations,” Dr. Harnett concluded. Experity has proven to be a valuable partner for American Family Care, enabling them to enhance operational efficiency, improve patient care, and support their continued growth. With the acquisition of Doctors Express, AFC projected to expand to 140 clinics across nearly 30 states by the end of 2014. Dr. Harnett is confident in the ongoing partnership, stating, “I feel comfortable as American Family Care grows that Experity will continue to grow — and provide newer and better developments in software to help us serve our patients,” ensuring they can continue to deliver comprehensive and high-quality care across all their services, including the american family care weight loss program.
“The experience, the support, and the relationships we have made with the Experity people have far exceeded my expectations.” — Dr. Glenn Harnett, Chief Medical Officer
