Department of Family Medicine (DFM) residency programs statewide are now benefiting from consistent, compliant Medicare cost reporting, thanks to the implementation of a centralized data management system.

The system, New Innovations’ Residency Management Suite, brings together all of the information associated with a residency program. Through individual modules, the system manages not only financial reporting, but also schedules, evaluations, procedures, and other program components. Individual users log in to the system via the Web to access data and perform tasks.

Although the DFM first adopted the New Innovations system in 2004, it launched a formal implementation effort in late 2006, facilitated by DFM Education Technology Specialist Nathan Gullick. Working closely with the UW-DFM program directors and education coordinators, one of the first tasks on Gullick’s list was to put the system’s financial reporting module, known as IRIS, into practice statewide.

The IRIS implementation took nearly a year of collaboration between Gullick and staff from DFM residency programs and affiliated hospitals. As a result, all DFM residency programs now manage financial reporting data consistently and according to guidelines set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). “In retrospect, it was tough to do and follow through, but it was well worth it,” Gullick says of the implementation.

Gullick is currently working with program staff to get residency evaluations completely online through the New Innovations system. Looking ahead, the department plans to implement additional modules to manage data for accreditation site reviews, duty hours, call schedules, and other program components. “We’re using portions of the system’s features, but we want to use them at full capacity,” Gullick said.

The residency management system was developed by Ohio-based New Innovations, Inc. According to the company’s Web site, 60 percent of family medicine residencies nationwide use the system.