Leading Puerto Rico Ophthalmic Practice Receives First U.S. EMR Incentive Payments

Centro Oftamologico Metropolitano, a leading ophthalmology practice in Puerto Rico and an ifa EMR user for nearly a year, has begun receiving its first U.S. stimulus incentive payments. We are pleased to announce that seven of Centro's doctors received payments of $18,000, for a total of $126,000 in incentive payments so far.

"After careful evaluation of various systems and preparing our clinics -- hardware, networking connections, cabling, etc. -- we made the decision that ifa was perfect for us," said Nestor A. Medina, Centro administrator. "The deployment was fast and after several weeks, slowly but steadily, we were back to our normal productivity levels. After only four months of using the system, we had seven physicians attest with CMS and they received the incentive money five weeks later. But the benefits of EMR are more than just stimulus money."

Headquartered in San Juan, Centro Oftamologico Metropolitano is a multi-specialty and multi-location ophthalmic practice in operation for more than 40 years. Each month, two generations of highly trained professionals complete nearly 5,000 encounters in four clinics with the support of 75 staff members. Centro chose ifa as its electronic medical record vendor in June, 2011, and we are proud of our partnership and our role in helping to establish it as a "Center of Excellence" going forward. You can read Mr. Medina's full testimonial here.

If you're interested in scheduling a visit to Centro, please contact Catherine Cook, Director of Sales, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

ifa Training and Work Sessions Resume in May!

With all attention currently focused on the exciting discussions and meetings that will take place at the ASCRS Symposium & Congress in Chicago next week, we would like to remind all prospects that the ifa Academy of Training and Work Sessions (TWS) will continue in May, with sessions planned in both our Fort Lauderdale headquarters and New York support office.

Unfortunately, our New York City TWS is already fully booked in May. But there are still a few slots opened for our TWS in sunny Fort Lauderdale, FL (May 10-12), so don't hesitate to reserve your spot today -- either by signing up online or contacting us at 888-443-2367. For the full schedule of all upcoming sessions, please click here.

As always, the complimentary ifa Training and Work Sessions are designed for potential, new and established users to learn the ifa EMR system with their staff and peers. Each session is customized to provide one-on-one training and group instruction on a variety of EMR subjects, such as stimulus reimbursement, meaningful use, structured data, e-prescribing and the Patient Portal.

We look forward to meeting and exchanging ideas with our current users as well as prospective clients next month. And for now, don't forget to make your appointment to meet with one of ifa's EMR experts during the ASCRS congress next week.

Meet the ifa team at ASCRS in Chicago!

The ifa united i-tech team will be presenting our state-of-the-art ophthalmic EMR system at the ASCRS Annual Meeting in Chicago. And you can now make your reservation for a personal demonstration!

To schedule your consultation with one of ifa's certified EMR consultants and get a first-hand look at our system, simply click here and fill out your preferred date and time during the show or call (888) 443-2367.

We look forward to meeting you at ASCRS, but please be aware that our booth gets very busy. To ensure you get the time you need, we highly recommend setting an appointment in advance.

For more on ifa's EMR system, be sure to read our latest testimonial from Dr. Jay Wisnicki, founder and medical director of Union Square Eye Care and ifa user since 2010.

See you in Chicago!

Dean McGee Eye Institute selects ifa united i-tech as its future Electronic Health Record Software

ifa united i-tech, a U.S. subsidiary of ifa Systems AG, the global leader for IT solutions in ophthalmology, is proud to announce that the Dean McGee Eye Institute (DMEI) selected ifa EMR v6 as its future Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system.

"Health IT will play an important role in the future practice of ophthalmology," said Gregory Skuta, M.D., DMEI President and CEO. "We are dedicated to providing the highest level of patient care using the latest technology platforms. This decision, spanning two years, was based on a broad market analysis followed by a comprehensive evaluation of the leading EMR vendors. The entire DMEI team of clinicians, technicians, IT specialists and other future users were actively involved in the selection process."

"The Board and the entire team at ifa united i-tech are honored by the decision of the Dean McGee Eye Institute to choose ifa systems as its EMR application," said Rainer Waedlich, Chairman of ifa Systems, AG. "We are committed to the project and will establish, together with the DMEI team, a 'Center of Excellence' for Health IT in Ophthalmology."

The Dean McGee Eye Institute is one of the largest and most respected eye institutes in the United States and houses the Department of Ophthalmology for the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. Its research and training programs are among the most highly regarded in the country. More than half of the Institute's ophthalmologists are listed in The Best Doctors in America; its Director of Vision Research is a past president of the International Society for Eye Research; two members of the faculty are recent or current directors of the American Board of Ophthalmology; three serve on the Board of Trustees of the American Academy of Ophthalmology; and one recently served as president of the American Glaucoma Society.

WOC in Abu Dhabi – ifa at the forefront of Health IT for ophthalmology

Eye care experts from all over the world attended the World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC) last month in Abu Dhabi -- the host city this year, and the quintessence of the rapid economic and technological progress in the Middle East. Accordingly, there could have been no better place for the ifa group of companies to present its latest advances in its highly innovative Health IT solutions to the world of ophthalmology.

Nearby visitors from Arabic countries naturally formed one of the largest groups of participants at the WOC, as the Middle East does not merely reach for the stars in terms of its architecture. These countries are also at the forefront of developing an optimal ophthalmic care system for their ever-growing population.

In such projects ifa's professional EMR excels, especially when it comes to allowing a stable integration of ophthalmic devices: approximately 450 devices can be integrated, and in fact, ifa's connectivity is guaranteed.

However, it is not just ophthalmologists who, seeking to work in a highly structured manner, opt for the ifa group of companies. This year's WOC confirmed that cooperating companies from the industry of ophthalmology also highly value the ifa group of companies as a reliable partner and are looking to further intensify cooperation.

With its EMR and ecPACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System for eye care) solutions the ifa group of companies is already one step ahead of future challenges to the industry, such as extensive imaging in support of picture-based diagnoses. These solutions are in turn components of the unique ifa Ophthalmic Data Model for full-cycle data management.

The ifa team will be delighted to answer any question on the company's products and services. Thanking all visitors to ifa’s booth at the WOC, the ifa group of companies is looking forward to continued interesting and stimulating discussions.

ifa group of companies