Physical Therapy Software - Increasing Net Revenue Per Patient

With 35 employees and ten physical therapy clinicstry to be all things to all people and sell the same
throughout central Missouri, Peak Performancepractice management system to a physical
Physical Therapy needed to find a way to solvetherapist that was just sold to a pediatrician or
its mounting IT challenges to avoid administrativeOB/GYN. "We needed a specialized solution." Upon
and clinical problems. The group's existing patientimplementation, the system immediately solved
care tracking and billing processes were simply notPeak Performance's scheduling challenges because
efficient for the rate at which the clinics wereit automated the front desk processes through
opening, and Peak Performance decided to taketask prompts and intelligent drop-down menus.
control of clinical documentation andThe group's administrative staff no longer had to
reimbursement. By using a therapy softwareworry about scheduling unauthorized visits,
system, the group was able to increase thebecause the system actively notifies the user if a
accuracy and quality of its clinical documentation,patient has met his/her allotted visits.
while improving productivity and optimizingTheir physical therapy software merges patient
reimbursement schedules.care and administrative aspects by providing a
Peak Performance now experiences a 35 percentmuch needed structure in the way Peak
increase in net revenue per patient visit -Performance therapists enter clinical notes. The
contributing directly to the group's profits andgroup's clinical notes are laid out against both
ability to expand into new regions. For years, allshort-term (2-4 weeks) and long-term (4-8
areas of Peak Performance's documentationweeks) goals. When therapists create daily
process - including administrative and clinicalS.O.A.P. (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan)
functions - had been conducted manually, and itnotes for their patients, the system prompts
was beginning to show. This outdated processtherapists through each step of the process.
was having an effect on not only workflowTherapists can then instantly track the progress
efficiencies, but also on bottom line results. On theof each patient, so they can justify directly to the
administrative side, Peak Performance waspayor, the rate at which each patient is reaching
constantly at risk of losing money because thetreatment goals. Because of the inherent flexibility
group often unknowingly scheduled visits thatof the system, Peak Performance's therapists
were not approved by the payor. If a patienthave been able to customize the use of the
was authorized for eight physical therapysoftware to their own documentation needs and
appointments, but ended up meeting for tenpast experience with similar information system
visits, the group was not reimbursed by thetools.
payor and had to incur the expense of the"The support team assigned to us by the
additional two visits.company has been very receptive to
In their daily schedule, therapists would postponeimplementing our suggestions," said Threatt. "The
the handling of administrative functions such ascompany continually offers upgrades and added
charting clinical notes to the end of the day, butfunctionality to the system to make it more
with a stack of patient charts piled up, the qualityuseful to our specific needs." The wireless,
of the clinical notes inevitably dropped. "It justpoint-of-care system has enabled Peak
wasn't an efficient system because the delayPerformance to increase revenue by
from treatment to charting would sometimes leadstrengthening its ability to capture and manage
to not only poor documentation in the patientmore complete and accurate clinical
charts, but also incorrect and incompletedocumentation. The group now experiences a 35
application of billing codes," said Phil Threatt,percent increase in net revenue per visit by
Administrator of Peak Performance Physicallimiting the clinical errors associated with poor
Therapy. From an accounts receivable standpoint,handwriting, treatment omissions and unclean
it was clear that the reimbursement process wasnotes. "The therapy software provides us with an
ineffective and just not up to payor standards.intelligent way to track the number of patient
Claims were regularly reimbursed at a lower rate,visits, referrals and treatment histories," said
and were sometimes rejected altogether.Threatt. "And, because scheduling, registration and
"Physical therapy practices continually need to findreporting can be accessed from multiple
ways to become more efficient and receivecomputers and facilities through a secure
payments faster while providing great patientconnection, this solution just made more sense
care," said Threatt. "Care and reimbursement arethan competitive offerings based at an on-site
always intertwined and you cannot separate theserver." Today, the group also uses the system
two. We needed an outpatient informationas a self evaluation tool.
system that would bring the two elementsAt any given point, Peak Performance
together in a cohesive, fluid process."administrators can use the physical therapy
The Solution After a long assessment process inreporting functions to evaluate therapist and
which multiple outpatient information systemsadministrative staff efficiency, which can be an
were evaluated, Peak Performance selected ainvaluable tool when trying to coordinate the
software designed as a complete solution forworkflow of employees across ten locations. "The
rehabilitation clinics, and manages everything fromsoftware makes the parts of the job that
scheduling, registration, management reporting.therapists like least - documentation and
"We chose the the system because it is built foradministrative processes - easier," added Threatt.
physical therapists, by physical therapists," said"With all of the automated functionality, our
Threatt. "The company understands our market,therapists have been able to spend less time on
challenges and nuances. This was a refreshingadministrative processes and more time on what
change from the other software companies whothey do best... patient care.