PHILADELPHIA – In expanding its use of a document management system to hold and share patient information, the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network also is seeing a payoff in efficiency and revenue cycle improvement. The Philadelphia-based healthcare network hopes to improve financial results by announcing an expanded use of the system.
The network expects the new capabilities will enable improved access to patients’ medical and financial records, which is expected to improve coordination of care. Other byproducts are improved workflow that will enable physicians to sign off on patient records post-discharge, enabling quicker claims submission and payment.
“That will be a big help in the whole revenue cycle process in getting bills out more quickly,” said Ken Levitan, CIO at Albert Einstein, which operates six inpatient facilities and several outpatient centers.
The upgraded system, from Streamline Health Solutions, Inc. of Cincinnati, is also expected to improve coding workflow by prioritizing tasks and sending them to coders located on campus and offsite.
Albert Einstein has used technology from Streamline since 1995. The hybrid solution accepts electronic data for the medical record as well as digital images of paper documentation.
“A majority of the patient data comes in electronically,” Levitan said. “We have a variety of electronic documentation tools. Nursing notes and pharmacy information is all electronic; it’s written directly to Streamline. Physician information, for most of the records to date, is more paper-oriented.”
The network has received strong physician support for its records approach, and it has won points because of the ease of access to information and the ability of physicians to electronically sign off on patient orders.
The ability to sign off on patient orders offsite after discharge “is a massive improvement for us,” Levitan said. “Physicians love it because they don’t have to go to a particular location to sign off.”
Managing digital documents also saves the network money because it doesn’t have to transport, manage and store paper records.
The network is now testing a non-hybrid electronic health record in two of its emergency departments.
The information system has helped Albert Einstein provide safe, efficient care, said Brian Patsy, Streamline’s CEO. “The workflow technologies provide significant advantages by creating a seamless care environment that leverages hybrid medical records,” he said.