Physical Therapy Software Perspectives
In their August issue, Physical Therapy Products interviewd physical therapists across the country about the business software they utilize. Chart Links’ user Andrea Marchi, PT, MBA, CSCS from Southeast Missouri Hospital’s HealthPoint Rehab in Cape Girardeau, MO participated in the interviews. Here is what Andrea, the Rehab Manager at this two-location, hospital-based outpatient facility had to say about Chart Links rehabilitation software:
What led you to choose software from this company? Ultimately, we chose ChartLinks for the customization opportunities to best suit our wide range of specialties and disciplines. ChartLinks was able to best fit our needs. [For more information, go to http://www.chartlinks.com/]
What improvements have you seen in daily practice as a result of implementing this software? We have heightened awareness of our trends and reporting for better practice management. Scheduling, especially multidiscipline appointments, is easier and more efficient. Our therapists’ documentation is timelier. [For more information, go to http://www.chartlinks.com/therapy-scheduling.html and/or http://www.chartlinks.com/therapy-documentation.html]
What advice do you have for PTs who are currently in the market for new business software?Choose a system that will be end-user friendly and provides excellent customer support after go-live. [For more information, go to http://www.chartlinks.com/services.html]
What is the best feature of this software? ChartLinks’ has improved our daily efficiency, compliance, and business management. ChartLinks’ Analytics system sets it apart from the competition. With Analytics, we can easily create customizable reports. [For more information, go to http://www.chartlinks.com/analyzedata.html]
What was the implementation process like for this software? Chartlinks’ staff coached us weekly for approximately 8 months. Prior to go-live, we spent two weekends transitioning our documentation/schedule to electronic records followed by transition time for our therapists before returning them to a more typical workload. [For more information, go to http://www.chartlinks.com/services.html]
Are you interested in “diving in” to a comprehensive workflow management system for outpatient therapy management? Contact Chart Links at http://www.chartlinks.com/contact.html
Optimizing Outpatient Rehab Therapy Documentation with Software
The July issue of Rehab Management features an article written by Mark Finn that focuses on Software Solutions for Multisite Therapy Practices.
Mark cites the following areas to automate in a multi-site physical therapy practice for gaining improved efficiencies:
- Workflow Automation
- Manual Documentation
- Claims Processing
- Reporting
- Clinical Documentation
We encourage you to read the full article to learn some tips on how to spend less time dealing with paperwok, documentation and reports — and more time treating a greater number of patients.
If you need help evaluating electronic medical records systems for your multi-site outpatient rehabilitation facility, contact Chart Links.
CCHIT Addresses EHRs for Inpatient Rehabilitation
A task force of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) has issued recommendations for a new long term and post acute care electronic health records certification program.
The program would cover EHRs in skilled nursing and nursing facilities, Medicare-certified home health agencies, inpatient rehabilitation facilities and long term acute care hospitals.
Recommendations from the task force include identifying core certification criteria common to the four priority care settings, reusing or adapting existing criteria from other CCHIT programs, identifying additional criteria specific to each care setting, and developing a roadmap indicating when the criteria are expected to be implemented.
A newly appointed CCHIT work group on long term and post acute care will start developing certification criteria in mid-July. The recommendations from the task force are available at cchit.org/about/organization/commission/advisory/ltpac.
[Source: Information taken from HealthData Management, written by Joseph Goedert.]
Therapy Documentation Software Return On Investment
When it comes to automating therapy documentation, funding is one of the biggest challenges outpatient rehab facilities face.
If you’re struggling to make a compelling business case for electronic medical records to your hospital board of directors, consider all of the operational areas that will yield quantifiable results. As you build your case, marry up metrics to timeframes as a part of your formula for return on investment.
Efficiency Improvements
When you automate therapy appointments, appointment reminders, referral management, authorization tracking, evaluations, plans of care, progress notes, flow sheets, and more; information can be called up and acted on almost immediately. List out and quantify all of the administrative task time this saves. Consider improvements in communications alone as it relates to time spent on referrals, authorizations and appointment reminders. The staff productivity gained allows for major improvements in therapist work flow which, over time, allows more patients to be seen in the same amount of time.
Cost Savings
One of the greatest cost savings brought by electronic therapy documentation is the elimination of transcription costs. Because therapists enter clinical documentation directly into the system, traditional paper-based methods are greatly reduced, if not eliminated. Determine your current cost per therapist or per page for transcription. Estimate, conservatively, a reduction in transcription costs. This will likely be one of the most significant contributors to your overall cost savings with an electronic therapy documentation system. Don’t forget to consider other paper chart costs in the ROI equation:
- supplies for creating and storing charts (from folders, stickers and dividers to cabinets)
- labor expenses for managing chart pulls, filing and audits
- copying expenses for documentation to attorneys, payers and physicians
Revenue Enhancements
Electronic therapy documentation opens new doors for driving revenue that should be considered as a part of return on investment. Consider how much more compliant, complete and accurate documentation becomes when it has the checks and balances of automation. Coding levels and claim errors correlate directly to documentation of the encounter. When therapy documentation occurs electronically, therapists report greater confidence levels as it pertains to Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) Edits, Medicare time tracking (or the eight minute rule), authorization tracking, and other compliance issues that can help or inhibit proper reimbursement. Consider improvements in billing accuracy as a part of your ROI analysis.
Quality Improvements
Some of the less tangible returns of electronic therapy documentation include quality. In most cases, electronic documentation allows for quicker, more legible, better organized and more comprehensive patient documentation overall. Across the outpatient rehab facility, automation standardizes clinical documentation, reducing inconsistencies in structure, poor handwriting, and lag time in documentation and approvals. Patient education sheets are readily accessible and up to date. Plan of care reports are auto-generated from the evaluation, able to be monitored, electronically signed, and faxed from the desktop. These and many other improvements in quality should be considered in ROI.
Summary
In an outpatient setting, electronic therapy documentation impacts both the therapist and staff productivity. A good business case for return on investment should focus on
- efficiency improvements
- cost savings
- revenue enhancements
- quality improvements
If you need help putting together your Return on Investment business case for an electronic therapy documentation system, please contact us.