Challenge
Allendale County Hospital (ACH) is a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital (CAH) serving Allendale, Hampton, Barnell, and Bamberg Counties in South Carolina. ACH owns and operates two provider-based Rural Health Clinics (PB-RHCs): Laffitte & Warren Medical Center (L&W) and Carolina Medical Associates (CMA). ACH sought to improve its revenue cycle and front office workflow, and engaged Stroudwater for operational improvement. In reviewing ACH data, Stroudwater’s consultant identified further opportunities, and ACH and Stroudwater chose to move forward with this new scope of work.
Process
ACH engaged Stroudwater Associates for a workflow improvement project to examine the PB-RHC’s operational performance based on data ACH provided to Stroudwater. Stroudwater conducted an intensive on-site interview with management and providers and analyzed data regarding operations, workflows, and productivity. Stroudwater used this information, along with demographic and market data, to analyze the following:
- Standardized workflows for registration
- Co-pay collections
- No show/cancellation rates
- Scheduling efficiencies and productivity of ACH providers
Stroudwater’s physician team experts incorporated the analysis and interview findings into key implementation initiatives, ultimately making the PB-RHCs more efficient and helping to continue driving strategic priorities forward.
“Stroudwater was amazing and had great advice on how to manage workflows in my departments.”
– Rebecca All, Office Manager
Stroudwater conducted five implementation sessions over three months with ACH leadership to focus on findings from the interviews. These implementation sessions resulted in the following improvements:
- Creation and implementation of standardized, defined workflows for eligibility, scheduling, phone inquiries, prior authorizations, and referrals
- Point of service collections increased 17% at L&W and 22% at CMA
- An improvement of 100% in patient consent, as shown in monthly audits
- For both clinics combined, a 5% decline in cancellations, a 5% decline in no-shows, and an 18% increase in completed appointments
- Scheduled encounters increased from 8 per day to 14 per day, an increase of 75%
Results
ACH is now consistent with registration processes, optimizing revenue cycle efforts, compliant with patient consent, and operating more efficiently, which has improved productivity for the clinics overall and enhanced the experience and care quality for PB-RHC patients.
“I am thankful for all of the guidance I was given and I can’t wait to see where our clinics will be within the next year or two after implementing all of [Stroudwater’s] wonderful ideas.”
– Rebecca All, Office Manager