CASE STUDY FACTS:
CLIENT: Frisbie Memorial Hospital
DIGITECH SYSTEMS RESELLER: New England Document Systems, Manchester, NH
PROBLEM: Paper-based patient records slowed processes and customer service
SOLUTION: PaperVision Enterprise and ImageSilo
RECOGNIZED BENEFIT:
"Digitech Systems provides us with a measurable and impressive reduction in records management costs and helps us to ensure patients’ privacy and confidentiality. Everyone in our organization benefits from our efficient records system.”
-Al Felgar,
President and CEO
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With 30,000 patients and more than 10,000 requests for medical records every year, information is the lifeblood of Frisbie Memorial Hospital. Their paper-based Emergency Department (ED) records system contained an average of nine pieces of paper for each patient record, and the resulting paper chase had the Health Information Management (HIM) Department spending up to 10 hours every day searching for documents.
Today, the HIM and Emergency departments use PaperVision Enterprise® and ImageSiloSM to store, manage and securely share electronic patient records. As a result, they save 3,000 hours and $18,200 in labor costs every year. The new Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system has created a ripple effect across the organization, helping other departments and outside practices simplify business processes and boost productivity.
The Situation
For more than 85 years, Frisbie Memorial Hospital, located in Rochester, New Hampshire, has provided exceptional healthcare. With highly trained caregivers and technology that makes a difference, Frisbie is committed to people, technology and trust. The primary care facility and 10 outside specialty practices come together to provide outstanding care.
Frisbie is constantly investing in new technology to improve diagnosis and treatment, but the hospital’s medical records system seemed archaic when compared to their high-tech healthcare. As patients were admitted, employees created a new paper file and then made multiple copies to fax or courier to as many as 10 practices.
A patient’s visit to the ED could prompt several requests for copies of a medical record—either from the patient, the patient’s primary care provider, the insurance company, the billing office or another health care provider. As a result, one full-time and two part-time employees were needed to field up to 38 patient calls per day, and the HIM department spent 15 minutes retrieving each record. If a file was more than 10 days old, it was stored in the archives and took longer to find. The ED received 20 calls per day, and five employees spent more than three hours everyday fielding information requests.
Paper records were difficult to protect from unauthorized use and natural disasters. The sensitive nature of the information was a risk for the hospital because the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires hospitals to protect patient privacy and security. Control was relinquished when paper records were handed off and when missing records were deemed lost.
The Solution
Frisbie worked with New England Document Systems to investigate ECM solutions. They chose to implement PaperVision Enterprise, because it enabled immediate access to patient records, reduced records-related costs and protected information. Plus, simple integration tools allowed Frisbie to unite PaperVision Enterprise with Centricity, their electronic medical records software. Without leaving the Centricity application, employees can manage documents in the ECM system.
PaperVision Enterprise allowed the hospital to store and secure information on-premise; but as the hospital expanded, it needed to allow remote access to the information. In 2007, they implemented Digitech Systems’ on-demand ECM model, ImageSilo. Working together as a hybrid solution, PaperVision Enterprise and ImageSilo offer system flexibility and allow outside practices secure access online. Today, up to 16 people simultaneously access records using PaperVision Enterprise, and unlimited number of users, including staff from Risk Management, Care Management, Pharmacy and Nursing Supervisors, view documents online with ImageSilo. “The training was minimal. ImageSilo is so intuitive that it took no time at all to get our people up to speed,” said Priscilla Matthews, RHIA, Director of Medical Records.
Recognized benefits
Frisbie maintains 200,000 patient records on their ECM system. As a result, they have eliminated 191 feet of shelving that held paper documents. With an electronic system, the HIM Department retrieves records instantly and saves nearly 1,500 hours in annual file management. Now, one full-time person fields all requests, reducing response time from 15 minutes to five minutes and saving an estimated $18,200 in labor costs every year.
The HIM Department uses PaperVision Enterprise to eliminate the need to fax or courier records to outside specialty practices. Now, practices retrieve records electronically, which decreases records requests by 15% and reduces faxing.
In the ED, patient calls previously required five people, 1,216 hours every year and involved phone tag frustration. Today, administrative work has shifted to patient care with almost instant service. One person fields all calls, and doctors review charts online with the patient still on the phone. By reducing chart review time, the department undertakes a more ambitious and thorough quality analysis process.
Both PaperVision Enterprise and ImageSilo offer user and document security, so Frisbie can ensure only authorized users view documents, and lost records are no longer an issue. Administrators have gained the confidence of audit trails, which record all user access and activity. As such, the new system has enhanced the hospital’s HIPAA compliance.
ImageSilo’s off-site data center provides physical and electronic monitoring and full system redundancy, enhancing their disaster recovery strategy. If a disaster occurred, Frisbie would have the information access they need to continue to provide service.
“The benefits of our ECM system have stretched across the entire organization, which has allowed us to further leverage the system and the savings,” said Dr. Robert Anthony, Director of Emergency, who explained how effective information management has benefited the entire organization. Auditing processes and peer reviews are more efficient now. The billing department can view invoices remotely and ensure billing code accuracy, and the legal department has noticed an increase in the quality of documentation.
The hospital’s partners benefit as well. Barbara Parsons, Office Manager for Rochester Hill Family Practice, an outside specialty practice, said the system saves her office 260 hours annually. “We are using ImageSilo to improve our customer service, our efficiency and the quality of patient care,” she said. As a result, their patient follow up practices are much more proactive now. “Patients have responded positively to this!” she said.
About New England Document Systems
New England Document Systems has provided document imaging, microfilming and storage services to the region’s businesses for more than 20 years. Their long list of satisfied clients includes small to mid-size firms as well as Fortune 500 companies in a broad range of industries, including medical, financial, business, retail and education.
To learn more about New England Document Systems, visit www.nedocs.com or call toll free at 1-800-340-1171.
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