Case Study 1: Charge Capture - Get paid for what you do.

Beginning a hospitalist practice is challenging. In Hollywood, Florida, the Memorial HealthCare System’s CFO asked “How are you going to collect charges?“ This question laid the very foundation for their practice. Charges had to be accurate, supported by proper documentation and complete. But paper charge collection was error prone and burdensome, while spreadsheets were time consuming and incomplete.

Memorial Hospitalist Group chose WebHospitalist® to get the most for its group. The intuitive charge capture logic allows physicians to build custom charge lists, organized to fit their needs. Drop-down lists use easily understandable customized abbreviations for CPT Evaluation and Management codes. And they get the job done with minimum keystrokes and navigation.

"The system is highly efficient because it is based on physician workflow and is designed around charge capture. All the benefits of the program emanate from the moment a charge is entered. We tried other products, but found these to difficult to use, not intuitive, and lacking many of the requirements unique to an inpatient practice," says Hospitalist and Medical Director Scott Oxenhandler, MD FHM. He continues, "And now, when charges are captured in our system they are automatically interfaced with our billing system, PatientKeeper©."

"WebHospitalist® is centered on charge capture, seamlessly joining our revenue cycle management with the unique clinical needs of our inpatient practice" concludes Practice Manager, Mario Salceda.

Case Study 2: Communication – Improved Hand-Offs Between Physicians

It is commonly heard among hospitalists: “We are frustrated with hand-offs and sign outs. We can’t even read the notes.” Quality information can be hard to come by during a busy day or night in the hospital. How can yesterday’s sign-out be prevented from just being copied and pasted into tomorrow’s with the exact same information?

While nothing can replace physician to physician (or other care provider) communication of important clinical data, an easy to use IT solution can vastly improve the flow and quality of information. Memorial Hospitalist group in Hollywood, Florida, found just such a solution that improves communication while actually increasing the quality of the exchange: WebHospitalist®.

"Because of the critical importance of hand-offs, WebHospitalist® requires a clinical sign-out to be entered at the time of charge capture. Caregivers at all levels have access to this information via any web portal, including physicians, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, therapists, and importantly, the primary care outpatient physician. The system detects when today’s rounding physician is covering a patient, and allows the sign-out done yesterday to be rated. So as you round today and prepare patients for coverage on your day off, you know others will be rating your sign-out/hand-off when they see your patient tomorrow. When this solution was implemented, the quality of sign-out information skyrocketed, to the point where even consultants were asking for access to “sign-out” reports!" says Bella Beraha MD, staff hospitalist.

This patent pending Point of Care Peer-Review tool makes an enormous difference. "The results have been phenomenal, with improved patient safety, reduced length of stay, reduced resource utilization and greatly improved hospitalist satisfaction. This meaningful, pertinent and timely communication takes the edge off covering for patients on weekdays and especially on weekends," concludes weekendist Curtis Corgan, MD. Memorial Hospitalist Group can now audit reports of ratings received, making the solution a valuable quality performance indicator.

WebHospitalist® has helped the Memorial Hospitalist Group take communication to higher level and make it a “matter of pride.”

Case Study 3: Communication – Engaging the Patient and Physician

Acknowledge – Introduce – Duration – Explanation – Thank you – AIDET! These are the fundamentals of good physician interaction with patients. Busy hospitalists are often pushed to the limit. Time spent with patients is precious and should be used efficiently.

At the Memorial Hospitalist Group, in Hollywood, Florida, administrators were disappointed with patient satisfaction with hospitalists, indeed with any physicians, and asked “What can we do to improve patient satisfaction with physician scores?”

With WebHospitalist®, they've found a tool to enhance communication between patient and physician. “Nothing substitutes for a physician talking with their patient. The aim of our communication tool is to more effectively engage them,” explains Nurse Aletha Scirrotto.

WebHospitalist® knows which physician is seeing the patient today. Nurses generate a report prior to their morning rounds, consisting of a smiling picture of the patient’s physician for today. The bottom half of the report has space for the patient and family members to write questions for the doctor. “Nurses are encouraged to help them write questions before the physician rounds," she continues.

When the hospitalist enters the room now, this report is already in the patient’s hands. It serves as an acknowledgement of the patient, an introduction of the physician (the picture adding a very human touch), and lays the basis for effective, productive and efficient communication. Even the family is included, fostering the important patient and family centered care issue - which is an important concept of the Memorial Healthcare System. "Patient satisfaction scores are through the roof!" concludes Nurse Aletha Scirrotto.

The Memorial Hospitalist group has found the A.I.D.E.T. tool not only improves patient satisfaction, but can help bring the art back into the practice of medicine, leading to improved physician satisfaction and retention.

Case Study 4: Census Management - Continuity Leads to Satisfied Patients and Physicians

How does a practice meet the challenge of maximizing inpatient continuity? Frustrated group members often complain, “We’re seeing new patients we don’t know, and the ones we do know have been reassigned to other physicians.”

With 27 physicians spread over two hospitals, and a combined average daily census of over 230 patients and 25 to 35 admissions every 24 hours, the Memorial Hospitalist Group knew they needed an innovative solution. They found it with WebHospitalist® Inpatient Practice Management system.

WebHospitalist®'s patent pending technology automatically ensures that hospitalists round on patients they’re already familiar with. "Census management begins at the moment of charge entry. First, patients are locked to a primary physician when admitted. If the primary physician is off, then the system automatically assigns the patient to the rounding physician who has seen the patient most frequently. New patients are assigned to the physician with the fewest patients. As the day progresses, charges are entered and patients trickle into tomorrow’s census, automatically being assigned to the proper physician. This is made possible by the fully integrated scheduling functionality. “The system is accurate and fully automated," says staff hospitalist Glenn Phagan, MD.

The result? More efficient patient care, preservation of scarce resources and happier, highly satisfied physicians. This leads directly to greater physician retention, with all the inherent benefits that come from an experienced hospitalist team. In addition, Memorial Hospitalist group is experiencing improved patient safety and satisfaction as well as improved financial performance (length of stay and cost per case).