 |
 |
What is Rock-Solid
Intelligence?
Rock-Solid Intelligence is the latest innovative product
from Rock-Pond Solutions. This FREE monthly publication is created specifically for the home infusion industry and is filled with information, timely
solutions, and valuable insight that you can use. |
In This
Issue:
February 2008
Featured Sponsor - Provista
Rock-Solid Intelligence is supported by some of the best companies
serving the home infusion industry. Each month we will feature one company and list them all at the bottom of the publication. We
appreciate their support and encourage you to learn more about their products and services.
Provista leverages its unique multi-industry purchasing power to
deliver supply chain and other business solutions,
helping customers
realize unmatched savings and maximize business performance.
Contact Leah Wilhelmsen at 972-910-6671 or Email ... NHIA Booth #426
New at Rock-Pond Solutions
Rock-Pond Delivers first System
Access and Security Solution
It was a normal day, providing business process improvement and
reporting services for a large home infusion provider. "Internal Audit is doing an audit of our system security. Could you write
some reports that give them the information they need to complete the audit?" Once again, we used our standard answer - "We'd be glad
to."
As is often the case, these reports opened our eyes to an opportunity. We realized that companies go through phases in
their system maintenance and most did not have a good handle on the current status of their system security. As reported in last month's
Rock-Solid Intelligence, we developed a structured process whereby we can assess the risk level of a company based on a series of interviews and
reports.
We've completed the first System Access and Security Solution for a hospital-based infusion company with 22 employees. We were able to test
our security solution on a company that is part of the largest health system in their state. One of our findings was that 12 of the
22 users set up in the system were set up with Super User privileges. Based on this and other findings, we're convinced of
the value of having an outside firm measure and reduce the security risks on a routine basis.
2008 Rock-Solid Intelligence Sponsors
As we enter our second publication year, we want to especially
thank our sponsors. We welcome three new sponsors this year; Provista, Fastrack Healthcare
Systems and Paragon Ventures. We hope you will take the time
to get to know the services of all of our sponsors. We're excited to deliver you rock-solid intelligence every
month in 2008. We appreciate your feedback on what we are doing
right and how we can improve.
Customer Case Study:
Home Infusion Provider turns to Rock-Pond for General Ledger
Integration
There is often somewhat of a disconnect between the financial reports produced by the
home infusion software system and those produced by the back end accounting system. This is especially true when the home infusion services are
part of a larger healthcare enterprise such as an integrated health care system or other multi-discipline company. Home infusion software
companies offer a range of financial system integration from nothing at all to creation of an export file that can be imported
into a back end G/L system. The challenge is to fully understand the timing of financial transactions in each system and accurately map
them in the home infusion system so they can be exported to provide accurate financial reporting from the G/L that is consistent with the financial
reports from the home infusion software. Recently a home infusion
provider turned to Rock-Pond to help them not only understand and map the transactions from their home infusion system to their financial
system, but to completely automate the process of transferring the data. The end result is better visibility of the financial status
of the business throughout the month as well as improved efficiencies and accuracy at month end.
Need help with your business? Contact Rock-Pond Solutions. If we can't help you we are sure one of our business partners
can. |
|
Reports of the
Month
Each month Rock-Solid Intelligence features a report from Home
Infusion Reports that give you critical business information from the data you already have.
Referral Trend Analysis Everything in home infusion starts
with a referral. Where are these referrals coming from? Are they up or down. Do they have seasonal patterns. How are your
sales reps doing? The answers to these and other critical business development questions can get lost in the day to day process of accepting
patients, dispensing prescriptions, delivering services and managing the clinical status of your patients.
Spot trends quickly with the Referral Log by Week report in the Home Infusion Reports library. Quickly see the therapy, patient status,
physician, referral source, payer and sales rep. Compare the weekly number of referrals for one site or across multiple sites. The report
allows you to display all patients or just those that were admitted in a standard report as well as a trend graph.
Referral Log by Week
Patients by
Referral Source within Referral Type
Market Penetration
by Therapy within Referral Source within Site
12 Month Descending
Revenue by Physician |
|
System
Insights
Rock-Pond's mission is to help
you maximize the benefit you receive from your information systems. Each month we provide an insight related to system implementation,
resetting an established system, system audits and common system errors.
Implementation: Learning with the intention to
execute
At what point during the implementation of a new system do users
truly engage in the learning process? You would hope this would happen during the training class but unfortunately it usually doesn't happen
until they are required to use the system. For example ... we were implementing a new system and Bob was responsible for an elaborate
spreadsheet that served as a call list for patients who were active and needed to be called prior to dispensing their next order. This was
his masterpiece and a very effective tool, even if it did require one FTE to keep it up. I asked Bob, have you been through the
training on the new system yet? Oh yes, he said. The new system looks great. I asked him, "Won't it be nice not to have to
update that spreadsheet anymore?" Bob turned white. "We're not getting rid of the scheduling sheet. I need to
...." Bottom line, Bob did not go to training to learn how to use the new system. He went to hear about it and never expected to really
change what he was doing.
→Action item: Prior to sending employees to training, spend some time understanding the key change points they will face if they use the new system
effectively. Tell them what will be eliminated and that you expect them to be able to train someone else when they return. Finally, test
their knowledge before you turn the switch and go live. Too many people wait until they go live to really learn what to do. The old
saying "Necessity is the mother of invention" is too often too true.
Management: Get the facts before you decide
Organizations perform better when their decisions are based on facts. Too often
home infusion providers base their decisions (or should we say explanations) on assumptions. The very thing we try to get our children to
understand (to get the facts before they make decisions) we neglect in our day to day work and it costs us tremendously. Have you
ever heard someone justify poor reimbursement results because the contracts were set up wrong? How about bad inventory decisions
because the system doesn't handle inventory well? Ever assumed that you were caught up on your billing, except for the unbilled
charges that are waiting on documentation to be billed? If you don't have the facts - which contracts are wrong and what is wrong with them,
what are the problems with the inventory features of your system and which documents are missing and what is their current status - you can't make a
decision on what to do.
→Action item: Stop accepting broad
generalizations that justify poor performance without detailed, factual explanations that explain the root cause. The fact is, your contracts
are set up wrong, there are serious differences in how your system's inventory features work and how you are expecting them to work and there are
delays in billing beyond waiting for documentation. The sooner you get the facts, the sooner you'll be able to hold people accountable to
solving the problem. The time it takes to get the facts is nothing compared to the time spent compensating because you don't know
them. |
Rock-Pond Solutions enjoys the opportunity to work along side the most
innovative people and organizations in the industry. |
Partner Connections
We are pleased
to offer some great experience and advice directly from our Rock-Solid partners.
How many billers does it take to change a light bulb? – Gary Collins,
Professional Reimbursement I have no idea, but I can tell you that the number one cause for errors in billing,
as I see it, has to do with too many assumptions and way too much carelessness. Read more
NHIA Listserv Lessons
– Monitoring Shipping
I am exploring methods for monitoring temperatures for shipments -
especially in extreme weather conditions of summer and winter. Does anyone have procedures on how they do this? What methods do you
use? And what resources do you use?
Read Listserv responses and Rock-Pond
Analysis
Use of "Routine" ABNs – Linda Payne, Reimbursement Concepts,
Inc.
The purpose of an ABN is to inform a Medicare beneficiary that Medicare will probably not pay
for an item or service, even if Medicare might pay for the service under different circumstances and allows the beneficiary to make an informed
customer decision. Be careful of incorrect uses of an ABN. Read more
Investigating Reimbursement Issues – Jeanne Lugli, Healthcare Automation
Reimbursement Center
It’s a common problem: you provide services, you send out bills, but your cash flow is
stalled. You need to determine the root of the problem, but you don’t know where to start. Use our Detailed Checklist |
|
Technology Tip of the
Month
Each month
Rock-Solid Intelligence shares a technology tip or software program that has made our work a little easier.
Craigslist.com - incredibly simple, and simply
wonderful
In 1995, a man named Craig Newmark, a programmer in San Francisco, decided he wanted to contribute to the
Internet community by building a “classified ad” style website. What began as a small community project in San Francisco has grown into
an international resource. Craigslist helps people all around the world post and find ads ranging from things like jobs, apartments, and services to
personals, general sales, and community events.
Each major city has its own site broken down into various locations within that city. It makes it a piece of
cake to find things close to you. The best part about Craigslist is that there isn’t any
cost to it, with very few exceptions. Craigslist charges for housing and job postings in only a handful of cities.
The next time you need to offload something to someone who is local to you, and make a few extra bucks, post
it on Craigslist, you will be surprised on how quickly you get a reply!
Check out an interview with Craig Newmark to read more about the origins of Craigslist: Find your local Craigslist website by visiting http://www.craigslist.org/ and selecting your location on the right. It most cases, you can simply visit
yourcity.craigslist.org (I.E. newyork.craigslist.org).
"We're pretty much not really changing. We do one thing well, and we don't want to screw it
up."
Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.com
Rock-Solid Intelligence is sponsored by:
The following companies are recognized industry leaders and financial sponsors of Rock-Solid Intelligence. Take a minute to click
on their logo to find out how their products and services will make a difference in your business.
|
|
|
Rock-Pond Solutions
1910 Centennial Club Drive | Conway, AR 72034
info@rock-pond.com | 501-450-6446
|
|
|
|
