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Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
How do you use computers in home health?
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
The Procura Home Health Application
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010Laura and I spent some time with Kathy Pruitt looking at the Home Health Application by Procura.
The Procura Home Health app is for medium to large home health agencies with a census over 150. Procura provides software to meet the needs of Home Health, Private Duty and Community Care organizations.
Procura is a BIG app, with lots of choices. Kathy did a great job asking the right questions to ensure we saw what we wanted and weren’t overwhelmed by the rest!
Procura falls in the mid-range for implementation costs at $25,000 to $40,000 depending on number of users, how many business lines, locations and specific applications purchased by the agency. The monthly fee for the hosted model is per user/per month at $335 each. The software also accommodates a server client environment as well and pricing can be provided for that. There is a telephony system as well so not all your field staff are “users”, your aides and contractors may be on telephony instead of the POC app for instance.
Procura has licenses with VNA First for care paths/plans or you can build or load your own. They are licensed with First Data Bank for meds.
Part of the implementation costs includes a business process review which is a very personalized touch to implementation. Procura goes to great lengths to discover your current processes and how to gently convert them into automated, electronic processes.
Setting up the payors in Procura seemed much more robust than other apps I’ve used, and can be edited down to the patient level for co-pays, Medicare Secondary payor, etc.
Like most of the apps we have reviewed, Procura has a built in encrypted email for communication between team members.
Integrated workflow!! Now this takes some time in the beginning, just figuring out what you think your workflow should be. For instance, after a clinician completes an OASIS, it goes to QA, then it goes to billing, or wherever or whoever you specify. I confirmed with Kathy that agencies would not be overwhelmed with choice and that Procura would share workflows that have worked for other customers! It’s one of those options (like setting up all your bills on your banking website) that are well worth the initial set up.
Medicare Eligibility can be checked across the census as frequently as you want. You know how we love that!
Two of my favorite features are 1. Best Route: So simple, it’s a feature that allows a clinician to put in all the patients she is going to see in a day and recommends where she go first, second, third, etc based on “best route” (not to replace clinical judgment of course, just a nifty tool).
Last but not least, Procura has a built-in CRM. That’s a “Customer-Relationship-Manager” application. Home Health has to have the marketing engine humming now a day to compete with increased numbers of providers for smaller profit margins.
The CRM allows you to analyze where your referrals are coming from, and maintain good contact and feedback with them! This is the first application that I’ve seen with the built in CRM.
We will be discussing how to manage marketing efforts inthe very near future on this blog as it is becoming a real hot button issue for our customers as well.
Meanwhile, if you have had experience using Procura, please take a moment to leave some feedback for the other shoppers out there. I know they will appreciate it. (All replies are moderated, and can be anonymous if you desire).
If you haven’t seen Procura, go to www.goprocura.com
or email Kathy Pruitt at kpruitt@goprocura.com
A Review of Healthwyse
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010Great demo by Kathleen Plath and her colleagues at HealthWyse yesterday.
HealthWyse has a full menu of options and services. They have an application for Home Health, Hospice, and Private Duty. There is also options for coding, a physician portal, and a more robust report engine.
They have a hybrid of web-based and local data, but do not require you to purchase and maintain a server in order to host your data locally. Your data is backed up on a desktop installation and synchs every 15 minutes with your data located at HealthWyse secure data center.
This is a great solution for areas without great internet connectivity or whose field devices take awhile to access the web. The application can be used by clinicians with or without internet.
While I appreciate that HealthWyse knows who their customer is, and it is NOT a start-up agency, HealthWyse has recently introduced a StartWyse option to bring their complete paperless solution to the small agency market. They identify a good candidate for the StartWyse option as having 100 -150 patients on census, less than 25 clinicians, and one line of business.
Agencies with more than 25 clinicians, more than one line of business, and/or more than one location would choose the regular HealthWyse implementation.
Implementation can be completed in around 10 weeks for the Startwyse option.
If you’ve read any of the previous reviews you will know how much I appreciate Medicare Eligibility Checking. HealthWyse users can select one to all patients for eligibility checks as frequently as you like. Any of you who have submitted a final bill only to find out that your patient has signed up for a managed Medicare plan knows the value of being able to check eligibility on your entire census throughout the episode!
While the implementation costs are higher than many of the other solutions reviewed here (over $25,000 depending on options), it should be considered that the solution is completely compliance driven and has a “HealthWyse Clinical Assistant” TM (thats a trademark sign–I don’t know how to make it on wordpress!)feature that prompts clinicians and managers to follow industry best practice. This may be an excellent solution for agencies with little industry experience.
While the implementation costs are on the high side, (they spend a lot of resources on building the back end, so the front end is more user friendly) the monthly costs are comparable to some other applications reviewed here at approx $1000-$3000 per month.
Contact Kathleen Plath at kplath@healthwyse.com and visit them at www. healthwyse.com
Hosted Vs. Licensed??
Monday, November 2nd, 2009Saw a great article on the question between hosted solutions and licensed solutions. Wanted to pass it on to shoppers!
This article explains the financial difference being that hosted solutions cost more to start up, but cheaper over the long run and licensed solutions are the cheapest to start up but will cost you more per month. I especially found the budget comment interesting as one is an operating expense and the other, a capital expense.
http://www.thornberryltd.com/index.php?pID=105
Introducing Home Health and Hospice Software Reviews
Thursday, October 29th, 2009I have reviewed several software solutions over the past few weeks and months and am still learning about each of them. I will be blogging about my finds and reviews in the months to come.
Meanwhile, I’m listing applications that I have viewed demonstrations on and links to their websites. Feel free to contact me if you are considering any of these products for a discussion!
Health Care First at healthcarefirst.com You can contact David Garcia at David.Garcia@healthcarefirst.com for a web demo. This is a contender for start up agencies who need a sound application for a great price.
For Hospice only Mumms is a good solution and has made several improvements. You can speak to Cindy McGarville cindym@mumms.com or visit www.Mumms.com
August Systems has an application for home health and hospice and can be viewed at www.august-systems.com or speak to LorrieC@august-systems.com for a personalized demo.
SanData at www.sandata.com has one of the best telephony systems (called SanTrax) I have seen that is perfect for private duty agencies. It uses the clients phone (so no purchasing of hardware) and I am most impressed by the no-show alert that lets a manager know if a caregiver didn’t show up at the appointed time!) Talk to DThompson@sandata.com. SanData also has a home health application that I plan to review soon.
www.kinnser.com has an application that is just a tad more expensive than the most budget-centric software decisions, but packs a lot more function into the application. I am really impressed with the enhanced import partnership with PPS-Plus www.ppsplus.com (which is an OASIS “scrubber”) which really does pay for itself the first time you use it in enhanced reimbursement opportunities.
Regardless of which software application you choose, please review PPS Plus to augment the validations that some of the applications choose. Few do it better and the few that do are in a whole different price category. You can speak with Mark Scott mark@ppsplus.com for a demo. You’ll see what I mean. I can also endorse PPS Plus as a previous user of the product.
I’ve also looked at Alora at www.alorahealth.com (sjohn@alorahealth.com) They currently are running a program where they waive the first 5 months of subscription! Another plus for start ups that aren’t certified.
Allscripts (formerly Misys) www.allscripts.com has a new solution that is affordable for start up agencies. (Laurie.Kaiser@allscripts.com) and
HomeCare HomeBase www.hchb.com are great solutions for a little larger agencies that need a lot of workflow integration. HCHB uses the pda’s (they have a laptop platform) but the pda’s are a big hit with users.
Thornberry has a program Ndoc www.thornberryltd.com is a good middle of the road in terms of price and upper end in terms of function. Contact Ed Bowersox at edb@thornberryltd.com for a demo.
www.homesolutions.net a Sansio product has a great scannable option. Talk to Kraig Erickson at Kraig.Erickson@sansio.com to schedule a demo.
We have several other demos scheduled and will continue until we have seen them all.
Most applications put on a good demo! Talk to people who have actually used it. View at least 5 demos before making a decision. Consider the cost savings in relationship with the expense not in nurse productivity, but in agency productivity. Getting the most from an episode, managing the episode with the appropriate resources, submitting RAPS in days not weeks.
If you’re going to go point-of-care and do away with forms, I recommend doing it all at once. Some agencies install a “back-office” solution and roll out the laptops later. That can be a disaster! If it is at all possible, go as paperless as possible right from the start. It will be smoother and cheaper in the long run.
The selection process can be daunting. We offer selection assistance services and can review software solutions with you which will assist you in making the best decision possible for your particular needs.
Feel free to call me at 804-274-0556 if you have questions about the above products or need assistance in selecting a solution that will meet your needs. I will be happy to share my thoughts. Also, if there is a product you want me to dial in to a demo you have scheduled to help focus the demonstration on your needs, please contact me for scheduling.
Stay tuned for the reviews, shoppers guide, and comparison tools to follow!
