First Settlement Physiotherapy is a family-owned and operated outpatient physical therapy provider. Founded in 1999 as a single clinic in Marietta, Georgia, it has grown to 37 clinics with approximately 200 employees, providing a wide range of therapy and rehabilitation services to patients in both suburban and rural communities throughout the Central Ohio Valley.
PROBLEM
Physical therapy and rehabilitation practices rely on software to enable scheduling, billing, and other business-critical functions. As First Settlement searched for IT tools, employees found the digital platforms on the market lacked the ability to scale when practically adding patients, therapists, and services.
Simon Hargus, owner and CEO of First Settlement, said: “The inability to scale the business means we cannot capitalize on the overall growth expected for the physiotherapy industry. Whether. “Fortune Business Insights predicts the US physical and occupational therapy services market will grow to $73 billion by 2029 from $50 billion in 2022. This growth is driven by an aging population and increase in both chronic diseases and sports-related injuries.
“As an organization that provides care to both suburban and rural communities, we needed a digital solution that not only maintains quality of care but also facilitates growth and enhances opportunities. our success,” he continued. “We’ve experienced exponential organic growth in recent years, and with it, of course, growing pains.”
PROPOSE
Addressing revenue and billing cycle management challenges is one of the team’s top priorities. It needs software that can handle authorization processes. It lost money because it couldn’t manage its medical billing needs, and the whole process became expensive and inefficient.
Hargus notes: “We also realized we needed to upgrade our marketing and patient acquisition strategies. “Our marketing team needed more opportunities to reach and engage, and required a software platform that could support the sales funnel. Although third-party lead generation software is available. can do this, but we wanted a comprehensive, all-in-one solution.”
MARKET
There are many electronic health record providers on the market today, including Allscripts, athenahealth, Cerner, eClinicalWorks, Epic, Greenway Health, Medicomp Systems, Meditech, Medsphere Systems and NextGen Healthcare.
MEET CHALLENGES ONLY
First Settlement has implemented Raintree’s all-in-one electronic health record system. It includes a set of business intelligence tools that provide remote access – crucial to practice with so many clinic locations across the region.
“The EHR platform includes automated patient engagement tools that allow us to market our clinics more broadly to medically underserved areas,” explains Hargus. “These tools help us keep up with our internal and external advocacy efforts. It’s now easier for us to attract and retain new patients using lead tracking tools. and the ability to track patient trends.
He continued: “Front desk automation, such as scheduling technology, has given our office workers the opportunity to take on more responsibilities and save resources. “On the billing side, an automated claims system that links certain codes to troublesome claims has turned directly into money and saved time.”
The The EHR platform comes with artificial intelligence business tools that save the therapist time by quickly analyzing the patient’s medical history, current symptoms and other relevant information to provide accurate diagnosis, he added. AI is used to monitor patient progress, adjust treatment plans as needed, and even alert therapists to take action to prevent potential complications.
RESULT
By streamlining and optimizing existing processes, First Settlement was able to foster organic growth.
“Automating complex workflows for medical bills, marketing efforts, and regulatory reporting – such as the Medicare Achievement-Based Incentive Payment System – allows us to focus on focus time and resources on delivering quality care to patients,” Hargus reports. “The resulting organic growth more than offset the declining reimbursements for Medicare beneficiaries.
“These technologies not only provide faster pain relief, but they also reduce the time patients need to spend in physical therapy, allowing our therapists to see more patients without sacrificing quality,” he added. amount of treatment”.
Another feature that has proven useful is the EHR’s ability to separate student metrics from staff metrics so staff can more easily balance student opportunities with those of the future. continuous efforts to provide quality care.
“Physiotherapy and rehabilitation practices like ours are under pressure to evolve with the market or risk falling behind competitors, even if we have to,” says Hargus. grappling with staffing challenges and cutting reimbursements.” “We rely on cutting-edge technologies like AI and automation to ensure we have the tools to scale our business while maintaining high levels of patient satisfaction and engagement.”
TIPS FOR OTHER PEOPLE
“Plan for growth by choosing a solution that is extremely scalable and easy to port to, especially for your therapists,” concludes Hargus. “There’s a learning curve, yes, but it only takes hours, not weeks.”
Follow Bill’s HIT coverage on LinkedIn: Bill Siwicki
Email him: [email protected]
Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS Media.
