NEW SOFTWARE COULD MEAN PAPERLESS MEDICAL OFFICE

A computer medical software program developed by a Cape Girardeau family practice physician and his son, a computer programmer, has generated national interest in the medical industry.

Pal/Med, a comprehensive electronic, patient medical record which could eliminate paper in physicians' offices, was developed by Dr. James E. Palen and his son, Rick Palen.

"We founded the Palcor Co. in 1984, and we've been working on Pal/Med ever since," said Rick Palen.

"It's a real time-saver," said Dr. Palen, whose own practice has turned paperless. "Physicians spend a lot of time on paperwork. The software cuts down on that time, leaving physicians with more time for patient contact."

Medical Synergies Corp. (MSC), a medical software sales and marketing firm based in Atlanta, Ga., was impressed with the Pal/Med software, and has entered into an agreement with Palcor to market the product.

MSC, a leader in medical software development, calls Pal/Med a "complete medical office system."

"It is designed to assist practitioners in meeting today's increasingly stringent medical records documentation requirements," said Rick Palen of the MSC office at 1028-A North Kingshighway.

The fully integrated, on-line, medical records provide such patient care features as on-line medical history reports, on-line patient care and nursing notes, on-line lab and X-ray reports, automatic patient follow-up and recall reports, and automatic drug interaction warnings.

"Additionally, the system's unique and comprehensive design provides full billing and electronic claims filing capability," said the younger Palen.

"Paperwork has cost medical practices well into millions of dollars and endless hours of time annually in maintaining, storing, updating, filing and researching patient medical records," said Dr. Palen. "Many doctors have had to convert examining rooms into storage areas just to store patient charts."

Palen also believes that the software program can cut down on malpractice risks.

"All the records are there and can be viewed in a minute's notice," said Palen. "The report enables the user to directly address any malpractice implications of such things as a physicians's failure to diagnose an ailment, any drug or allergic allergy, and other procedures.

"All this also results in better patient care," said Palen, vice president of medical marketing for MSC.

Rich Palen became interested in computers while he was in college.

"I kept telling Dad he should get a computer in his office," said the younger Palen, who eventually changed his college emphasis from pre-med to electrical engineering.

"Dad finally got a computer, and we started work on a medical program," said Palen. "At first we placed a list of patients on the computers. We started adding to the list, with patients' medical history and lab reports, and by 1990 we had a good software program. It doesn't stop here; we're continually improving it."

The Palens are planing an open house on a date to be announced at the office at 1028-A N. Kingshighway. "We want to show how a paperless office operates," said Dr. Palen.