In Good Health Family Practice
A Practice’s Search for a Solution
Practice Profile
Practice:
In Good Health Family Practitioners Practice Owners Laurie Davis, NP, and Bruce Pendley, M.D.
Profile:
A mid-sized primary care practice established in 2006 in Chattanooga, TN
- Number of offices: 1
- Number of providers: 14
- Number of administrative staff: 3
- Number of workstations: 7
Business Problem:
Manual processes, billing errors and inadequate reporting were hurting cash flow.
Solution: NueMD®
Background
When it first opened in 2006, In Good Health Family Practice in Chattanooga, Tenn., did not have a practice management software system and relied completely on paper billing. Office manager Laurie Davis quickly found that this was not sufficient for their needs – practice staff had difficulty maintaining a good patient flow and a high number of billing errors resulted in slow reimbursement.
“Claims were not being tracked effectively and some simply got lost before the practice received payment,” Davis said. “Plus, reporting was very labor intensive and did not have the level of detail that we needed.”
Setting Parameters and Finding a Solution
Davis, in coordination with her partner Dr. Pendley, M.D., determined that In Good Health needed to automate its operations to get a better handle on payments and create efficiencies. In fall 2007 she led a search for a medical practice management software solution. Objectives of the search were to find a product that would:
- Improve In Good Health’s revenue cycle management as evidenced by:
- 15 - 20 percent decrease in Accounts/Receivable days.
- 30 percent decrease in rejected claims.
- Improve patient flow and allow providers to see an additional 5-10 patients/week.
- Provide a better view of the practice from the 30,000 level through more effective and conclusive reporting.
After looking at eight vendors, Davis decided on NueMD®, an Internet-based solution with appointment scheduling, advanced reporting and analysis, a collections module, and sophisticated insurance claims processing.
“We had our sights set on an application service provider (ASP) so that we would not have to worry about maintaining a server, or handling backups and paying for ongoing software upgrades,” said Davis. “Of the systems we considered, we thought NueMD was very easy to use, and we really liked the idea of being able to access the system from any work station and to even be able to log in from home.”
In addition, NueMD stood out from the other ASP systems on In Good Health’s short list of vendors because it is delivered completely outside of a Web browser. This means that NueMD is more secure than browser-based systems because it avoids the public network of the World Wide Web, which is very vulnerable to viruses and hackers. Plus, NueMD’s connection times are not limited by a browser, so it runs more quickly than its Web-based counterparts.
The Proof is In the Numbers
Within a short time of implementing NueMD, In Good Health began to realize measurable results that met or exceeded Davis’ original goals in the following areas:
Revenue Cycle Management:
Cash flow overwhelmingly improved within a few months, as evidenced by a reduction in the Accounts Receivable cycle from 49 days to 21 days – a decrease of 57 percent, which dwarfed In Good Health’s original objective of a 20 percent decrease! The significant reduction was a direct result of the fact that NueMD helped front office staff access outstanding balances when patients checked in, which vastly improved collections.
NueMD also helped In Good Health overhaul its billing processes, meaning that more claims were passed through cleanly to payers, and any errors or problems during the submission process were immediately apparent. In fact, In Good Health reduced its number of denied claims by more than 50 percent within the first year of using NueMD.
“I can bill, post charges and post payments with no mistakes,” said Davis. “Before using NueMD, I didn’t even do my own coding, and it has taught me how to run my office. I’m not a trained biller – I’m a medical provider, so if I can do this, anyone can.”
Patient Flow:
NueMD features an appointment scheduling module that allowed In Good Health to get its scheduling back on track. The module allows scheduling for multiple providers, clocks and tracks patient check-in times and keeps all patient insurance information readily available. These features and more helped In Good Health to better understand average in-office visit times for patients and adjust its patient flow, permitting the practice to accommodate 25 more patients a week (or five more each day) – more than double the original goal.
Reporting:
NueMD’s reporting module includes more than 70 reports that helped Davis get a better understanding of the practice’s revenue stream. She could pull various weekly and monthly reports at a moment’s notice, including a Cash Flow report, and data about receivables, collections and credit balance. This feature not only allowed Davis to have a well-rounded view of everything that happens at the practice, but it saved hundreds of man-hours previously devoted to manual data entry.
The significant new efficiencies and improvements in cash flow have convinced Davis and other In Good Health staff members that they made the right choice with NueMD. She remembers when a competitive product came knocking on the door a year after In Good Health had implemented NueMD:
“They [competitor] had all kinds of promises about how making a switch would benefit our office, but when we started looking into it, NueMD offered more functionality at a significantly lower price point,” she said.
Now, with decreased administrative time, and increased revenue and patient loads, Davis and her team are pleased with their choice and have not looked back.
“Simply put, NueMD has made life at In Good Health much easier and less stressful,” Davis said.
