MMCH Rehabilitation Center chooses Chart Links for niche-specific solution and hospital information system interface capabilities
Margaret Mary Community Hospital (www.mmch.org) in Batesville, Indiana, runs an off-site Outpatient Rehabilitation Center that handles more than 15,000 patient visits annually. The rehab facility employs 21 therapists providing physical, occupational, and speech therapies. Other services include work conditioning, sports medicine, balance, lymphedema, low vision and pediatric therapies. Aquatic therapy is offered at the local YMCA.
The rehab center had been using the hospitalÔøΩs information system for documentation and billing and a manual, paper-based system for scheduling. Although the hospital system allowed some modification to accommodate documentation of the centerÔøΩs special services, rehab center managers began to look for an end-to-end, niche-specific software solution that would assure documentation accuracy, improve workflow, save time, streamline scheduling and generally make life easier for a totally rehab-focused facility.
ÔøΩWe reviewed several different software options before narrowing our search to three companies,ÔøΩ said Carmen Pride, physical therapy manager and project manager on the search team. ÔøΩAfter conducting extensive web demos and then comprehensive on-site demos of the three product finalists, we chose Chart Links. They definitely stood out and we especially liked the way their application looked.ÔøΩ
ÔøΩWe wanted to continue to use our primary EMR as the central point for our patientsÔøΩ summary of care and billing records,ÔøΩ said Donna Nobbe, information systems director. ÔøΩTherefore, our requirements for this project included a series of interfaces. Chart Links had experience doing this work with our hospital EMR vendor and provided valuable interface documentation.ÔøΩ
The MMCH Rehabilitation Center launched Chart Links in January 2009. ÔøΩI totally expected the first day of ÔøΩgo liveÔøΩ to be really crazy and haywire,ÔøΩ remarked Pride. ÔøΩWe sat in a room waiting to problem solve and expecting to help steer people through a hectic transition. But no problems came! That first day ÔøΩ and since ÔøΩ everything with the Chart Links system has been smooth and seamless. IÔøΩd recommend it to anyone.ÔøΩ
Chart Links solution exceeds rehab centerÔøΩs expectations
MMCH has realized a full range of benefits, well beyond expectations:
Insurance reimbursement is significantly faster. Before, it took an average of 90 days until bills were sent out. Now, the timeframe is under 30 days. ÔøΩThis was made possible by the customized interface Chart Links created for us,ÔøΩ noted Pride. ÔøΩOur billing is still distributed through HospitalÔøΩs primary EMR, but the Chart Links solution has streamlined and accelerated the process. We get our insurance monies in the door much more quickly now.ÔøΩ
Compliant documentation is more accurate and worry-free. ÔøΩWeÔøΩre billing now with far less anxiety about errors because of Chart Links,ÔøΩ said Pride. ÔøΩCCI edits, for example, have improved. Chart Links automatically notifies you of CCI edits so we donÔøΩt have to catch them on the backside or lose payments because we billed two procedures instead of one. Chart Links is our first line of defense, letting us know immediately if thereÔøΩs a problem.ÔøΩ
Scheduling is more organized, streamlined and accurate. Prior to Chart Links, the MMCH rehab facility scheduled manually with an appointment book (referred to as ÔøΩthe BibleÔøΩ) which often resulted in confusion and error. ÔøΩIt was very unorganized,ÔøΩ said Pride. ÔøΩThere were too many therapists and not enough spaces to write in. Patients sometimes showed up when we didnÔøΩt expect them.ÔøΩ
The Chart Links solution has not only streamlined the scheduling process and cleaned up the errors but has also made the process completely user-friendly and intuitive. Unlike the other complicated-looking schedulers the rehab center management had considered, the Chart Links scheduler appears on the screen exactly like a book, a format the staff was very comfortable with. ÔøΩThe Chart Links scheduler was so easy to use and get used to that the staff abandoned ÔøΩthe BibleÔøΩ on day two of go-live rather than the six months they thought they would need to transition,ÔøΩ remarked Pride.
The workflow of the application makes sense, reflecting the way a therapist works and reports. ÔøΩEverything on the screen is organized and logical,ÔøΩ said Pride. ÔøΩItÔøΩs Windows based operating system is a superior advantage. Print Preview, for example, depicts what the chart note will actually look like, a huge improvement over what we had. Even the range of motion measurements come out neater and, therefore, easier to read by the physician. Everything just looks better and flows better.ÔøΩ
The Chart Links Analytics option is a huge time-saver. ÔøΩWith Analytics, you can look at specific programs and find out which ones are doing well or not,ÔøΩ noted Pride about the Chart Links ad-hoc reporting tool. ÔøΩYou can pull anything out of the system you want and analyze the data. Where month-end statistics would take an enormous amount of time to assemble with our old manual system, now we can run a report almost instantly.ÔøΩ
Customer service has been superb right from the start. ÔøΩAnother major selling-point of Chart Links is their depth of rehab knowledge and their willingness and eagerness to share that expertise with us,ÔøΩ noted Pride. ÔøΩWe get very few vendors who have given us the customer service that Chart Links does,ÔøΩ said Trisha Prickel, manager of information system services. ÔøΩThey have responded to help desk questions at night and have been available to check the system after hours. I have been very impressed.ÔøΩ |
