Enhancing efficiency and patient experience with NextPatient

Rapid patient growth reveals need for improved support

Exemplar Care, a direct primary care clinic and 24/7 urgent care center, supported four providers in two locations, balancing scheduled, walk-in, and telehealth appointments.

As a clinic that serves both member and non-member patients, delivering an exceptional care experience is essential, but as their patient base grew, so did their challenges with their solution.

Increasing call volumes, no-shows, and urgent care surges overwhelmed their staff. Exemplar Care could see that their current solution lacked the robust customization they needed to succeed.

To meet the needs of their patients and staff, Exemplar Care turned to athenaOne and NextPatient, an athenahealth Marketplace partner. 

Automated scheduling and engagement with NextPatient

By transitioning to athenaOne, Exemplar Care was able to easily integrate NextPatient while preserving their existing workflows. With NextPatient’s help, the clinic implemented patient self-scheduling and appointment management, urgent care online queuing, interactive reminders, digital check-in, and automated post-visit reviews. Making it convenient for members to book appointments online at any time of day reduced call volume and overall burden on front desk staff. Urgent care online queuing helped shorten wait room times without having to reduce patient volume Interactive reminders encouraged patients to show up for their visits, and digital check-in kept appointments flowing through the office with less front desk involvement.

Being able to tailor NextPatient’s solution to support Exemplar Care’s practice model led to dramatically improved administrative efficiency that enhanced patient experience and satisfaction.

“From the ability to tailor the software to fit our member-first model to the unmatched customer support, NextPatient checks every box.”

-    Jacqueline Robson, VP of Member Services
     Hy-Vee Health Exemplar Care

Results that support expansion and great reviews 

Implementing NextPatient’s solution has been transformative for Exemplar Care—allowing them to expand to 14 providers across 11 locations in five states. Wait room times have shortened for the more than 1.6K urgent care patients a month who reserve a spot in line before they arrive. With the convenience of self-scheduling, 40% of appointments are now booked after hours, and 25% of new patients book online. Interactive reminders have helped lower Exemplar Care’s no-show rate to 4%. 

Besides significant growth, Exemplar Care is proud of the positive recognition the organization is receiving from patients. Automated post-visit reviews have led to 22% leaving a Google review, and a 4.9-star rating overall. 

Exemplar Care's journey with NextPatient and athenaOne demonstrated how technology that’s able to truly adapt to unique practice needs can create the foundation for sustainable growth and operational excellence. 

Discover how athenahealth Marketplace partners can help you succeed 

Looking for a customizable solution that can help improve patient experiences while freeing your staff to focus on higher value work? Explore the athenahealth Marketplace and join other customers who are already transforming patient engagement and operational efficiency with NextPatient. 

We’re ready when you are. Get in touch or dive deeper into athenaOne’s suite of EHR, revenue cycle management, and patient engagement solutions.