Quality of life changes with EHR & RCM- Capstone Behavioral Health

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Cumbersome EHR & RCM Systems Lead to a Search for New Solutions

Capstone Behavioral Health, a two-location behavioral health practice in Nebraska, is striving to improve the quality of life for individuals and families with behavioral and mental health needs, including substance abuse. The practice has been around for over 12 years and employs approximately 70 staff members, consisting of (P)LMHPs, (P)LADCs, and Fully Licensed Psychologists.

An EHR & RCM System Stuck on Paper

Like many healthcare organizations, Capstone Behavioral Health sought technology solutions to help empower better patient care, which led them to implement both an EHR system and RCM solution to satisfy their clinical and billing needs.

Billing, in particular, was more complicated with Capstone. With several payers to accommodate, along with grants and funding from the county and state of Nebraska, there were specific billing requirements Capstone had to follow.

Unfortunately, the EHR and RCM setup Capstone had in place was simply not meeting expectations.“We basically were operating on a storage system,” said Nikki Conner, Director of Operations. “The EHR was very cumbersome and time consuming without many checks and balances. We had to do everything by hand. It was just a huge drain on resources.”

To make matters worse, Capstone’s EHR and RCM weren’t integrated, causing even more inefficiencies in crucial areas of the practice.

“It was miserable without the integration,” Conner added. “The organization as a whole was open to greater risks of missing details within the notes when it came to billing.”

 

InSync’s Integration, Customizable Forms ‘Cherry on Top’ for Capstone

Naturally, this level of frustration led Capstone to consider other options in the marketplace.

“We were planning to only switch to another EHR system and remain with the same RCM solution,” Conner explained. “But when we started looking over our RCM data – such our A/R numbers and Days Out – it was clear we were struggling to receive our proper reimbursements.”

At the end of March (the last month before Capstone switched to InSync’s RCM solution), Capstone had more than $450,000 in A/R, along with 20% A/R over 120 days.

An infographic showing the total A/R Decline

The change in plans made Capstone’s discovery of InSync Healthcare Solutions all the sweeter, given the integration between the EHR software and RCM solution. The features of the behavioral health-specific EHR didn’t hurt, either.

“It was the EHR side of things that ultimately sold us on InSync and the RCM integration and services was the cherry on top,” Conner said. “The customizable forms were very impressive, especially for our progress notes and evaluations. Our state and county payers require certain things in our evaluations and notes and a lot of the systems we looked at didn’t allow us to include those things.”
“Other systems were also too expensive for the 70-plus employees that we have and were geared more toward smaller practices,” she added.

Hands-on Implementation & Training Powers Seamless Go-Live

Implementing one software for a practice is a major undertaking, so going live with both a new EHR and RCM solution should have been a stressful process. However, it was InSync’s hands-on approach to implementation that helped the entire period run smoothly and efficiently.

“We went live simultaneously and we all thought the implementation was great,” Conner said. “We received a lot of attention during our training and we were able to get a lot of our questions answered. The hands-on approach had a big, positive impact on our go-live.”

For Capstone and any other clients, InSync provides practices with the option of bringing implementation team members to the practice for an on-site discovery, which allows for a more in-depth understanding of how the practice works. As a result, the InSync software is better customized to fit the unique needs of the practice, an important factor in a software’s effectiveness, especially for Capstone.

That same hands-on approach has remained throughout Capstone’s relationship with InSync.

“Our weekly meetings with InSync have been very helpful. If we asked to meet twice a week, InSync would. The company is readily available should we have any questions,” Conner said.

Days in A/R infographic

Capstone Sees Significant Improvement in RCM, A/R Data

Since signing on with InSync’s solutions back in April, Conner says the impact has been very positive. Specifically, it’s the added efficiency they’ve received as a result of a more intelligent, customized and integrated system than what they had with their previous vendors.

“With more efficiency through InSync, it’s allowed our employees to focus on other important projects for us,” she said. “Our providers are able to provide more services because the documentation process is simpler, easier and faster. They are getting everything done quicker, while staying more compliant.”

On the RCM side, Capstone says not only has the integration made the flow of information from clinical to billing more efficient, but it’s also helped provide greater information on the financial health of the practice.

“We are much more hands-on, knowledgeable and informed about what’s going on in our business thanks to InSync’s RCM tools.” Conner explained. “It’s all completely automated so we can be confident everything is done right.”

Furthermore, the change to InSync has also resulted in significant improvements in crucial financial areas for Capstone. Total A/R has dropped to approximately $390,000 and the A/R over 120 days has been nearly cut in half, dropping all the way from 20% to 11.6%.

“Overall, it’s been a very positive experience with InSync. From implementation to now, everything has been really organized. InSync is attentive to our concerns and things have gone as well as we could have ever expected.”

Contact an EHR Software Expert

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