athenaClinicalsSM Tackles Practice Performance Management
Is it possible to track every aspect of patient care in order to increase productivity and quality of care?
Once again, athenahealth is going where no company has gone before: we’re building functionality into athenaClinicals (our unique EMR solution) that will help practices understand every aspect of the patient care they provide – and improve on it – to increase productivity and profitability.
“We have a big, exciting vision for this new component of athenaClinicals, called Practice Performance Management,” said Julie Holmes, the product manager heading up this initiative. A nurse practitioner, Holmes has a unique understanding of the potential benefits of this new functionality.
“Practices will be able to track (and act on) data from every aspect of patients’ visits. From check-in to intake, exam and test ordering, and through check-out, each practice will understand exactly what goes on during these phases, and for how long,” she said.
For example, practices will be able to see how long it takes to see a provider for each appointment. Or what information the medical assistant got during intake versus what the provider collects during the exam. And how long it takes for patients to get lab results.
“There are many, many data points that athenaClinicals could potentially capture with this new component,” said Holmes.
To fine-tune the practice management tool, the athenaClinicals team will take a two-pronged approach. On one hand, the team will figure out how to define clinical encounter phases such as check-in, intake, provider exam and check-out, and what metrics to track.
The second, more in-depth approach is to “figure out what practices want to know – and what they are invested in acting on,” said Holmes.
“We’ve gone through this process before,” said Kevin Tolin Scheper, athenahealth’s director of clinical implementation services. “When adding any new functionality to athenaClinicals, we’ve worked closely with clients to make sure we’re providing the right tools, and that we’re ultimately improving patient care.”
Practice Performance Management will be a powerful tool not only for athenaClinicals clients, but for the health care industry. “At athenahealth, we have a history of building tools and services that set best practices for clients looking to maximize billing and profitability,” said Tolin Scheper. “Now, athenaClinicals clients will be able to capture the effect of being part of a constantly improving network reflecting best practices in the clinical setting.”
“We are in a unique position to learn about what’s working in the practice setting across a range of specialties,” said Holmes. “We already collect and track a huge amount of data. With Practice Performance Management data, clients – and ultimately the health care industry – will benefit from knowing what’s currently working, and how other practices have improved on typical challenges.”
For more information, check out the athenaClinicals online tour or call 877.889.8415.