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DEPARTMENT OF FAMILY MEDICINE
- Our Mission
- Research/Faculty Development
Programs & Resources:
- Predoctoral Programs
- Residency Program
- Contact Information
Family Medicine Center
The Family Medicine Center,
which occupies 14,800 square feet on the ground floor of MCG's Ambulatory Care Facility, allows residents
to practice family medicine in an ultra-modern, well-equipped and
supported facility which simulates a model private-practice office. It is here that the
resident applies all of the skills and knowledge acquired in training to care for his or
her own panel of patients. First-year residents spend one to two half-days a week in the
center, and second- and third-year residents spend two to five
half-days a week.
The Family Medicine Center is the major
primary-care entry point into MCG's multispecialty Ambulatory Care Center.
The Family Medicine Center has a large
waiting area, with adjacent reception, appointment, and business areas.
Thirty-four examination rooms are clustered in
a two-module concept with common specialized diagnostic and treatment areas such as an
emergency/minor treatment suite, and several specialized procedure rooms for flexible sigmoidoscopy, colposcopy, pulmonary function,
vasectomy, vision and hearing screening, minor
surgery, nasopharyngoscopy and
ENT. The center also has its own independent
laboratory, medical records, patient education office, teaching rooms and resident work
rooms. All medical records are dictated with a turnaround time of less than 48 hours into
the Electronic Medical Records system. They are then reviewed and counter-signed by the
attending faculty.
The Department of Family Medicine's administrative suite, residency secretarial support and faculty offices are located in a contiguous building with easy protected access which houses the department's major conference room and library. The Family Medicine Center, the department's administrative offices and the Family Medicine Inpatient Service are the major elements of the residency program and are all within easy walking distance of each other.
Each resident works in a team concept with faculty and nursing support, and with his or her own panel of patients. The working relationship that develops through our team approach ensures prompt, quality patient and family centered care for our more than 32,000 active family practice patients.
Electronic Medical Records
In 1996 the Department of Family Medicine (DFM) at the Medical College of Georgia activated its Electronic Medical Record (EMR) after four years of investigating and planning. The DFM recognized the need to maintain state-of-the-art health care while responding to the increasing demands of the managed care environment.
Each exam room is equipped with a computer workstation connected to the
campus network. In addition, there are workstations located throughout the center at the
nurses' stations, dictation cubicles, as well as in the lab, triage room, medical records room, and procedure rooms. Access is also available in the hospital in
the DFM Inpatient Service. Physicians can also access the EMR
from their office via the campus network, and from home.
The software chosen to support the EMR is Practice Partner Medical Records by Physician Micro Systems, Inc. Of primary importance in choosing the computer software for the EMR was the need for uninterrupted service to patients. The software chosen had to fit the practice seamlessly. Practice Partner allows DFM physicians to continue to see and treat patients as they always have, without having to pause to type information into the system. The progress note is dictated, and the EMR software extracts the pertinent visit data from the transcription and places it in the appropriate section of the chart while leaving the progress note intact. Some physicians prefer to type the progress note rather than dictate it.
In addition to providing easy access to patient information, the EMR allows us to do things we could never attempt with a paper-based system. These include automated health maintenance monitoring and extremely rapid research and data extraction, as well as accessing patient records at all hours from various parts of the campus such as the Emergency Department and call room in addition to the FMC.
Patient Education
Patient education is an integral part of the center's quality health-care program. A full-time patient educator is available in the Family Medicine Center for patient consultation on such topics as hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, weight reduction, exercise, obstetrical and pediatric concerns. Educational aids including models and videotapes and computerized instruction sheets are available for physician instruction to patients.
Laboratory
The Family Medicine Center Laboratory is nationally known for its research and training. It is directed by a family physician and supervised by a certified laboratory technologist. Several support personnel are also employed to maintain quick turnaround in this busy and efficient lab. Our office laboratory provides a wide range of tests on a stat basis while patients are seen in the Family Medicine Center. This includes routine hematology, urinalysis, and numerous waived tests for diagnosing and monitoring patients. The center has convenient access to a full service laboratory for complete chemistry, immunology, and microbiology testing. Lab results are entered directly into the patients electronic medical record.
Most senior residents participate in a month-long elective which trains them to direct an office laboratory in their practice. This training is specifically designed to meet the educational requirements of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments. Residents who complete the elective are qualified to direct their own laboratories in practice. The training includes actual test performance, test selection, setup of quality assurance programs and supervision of laboratory staff.
The laboratory also serves as a site for research. Data collected here
has been published in JAMA and The Journal of Family Practice
and is often used by the FDA to evaluate new tests.