The power of ambient technology and medical coding: More time, robust charge capture, better connection

Dr. Katherine Gregory, MD, MPH has spent her career asking a question that keeps many healthcare providers awake at night: How do you preserve genuine patient relationships while navigating the demands and challenges of modern medicine?

At San Francisco Gynecology, where Dr. Gregory and her team provide compassionate, safe, and timely care to generations of women, finding that balance is the crux of their decision-making.

"It's an amazing experience," Dr. Gregory says of caring for families over decades. "Being able to take care of grandmothers, mothers and daughters, having that trust over a great amount of time has been an immense privilege."

As Dr. Gregory knows well, with that privilege comes a pressure to untangle the complexities of the current landscape so patients can receive the best care possible. That’s where San Francisco Gynecology’s partnership with athenahealth helps ease the burden on Dr. Gregory’s shoulders so she can focus on delivering high-quality care and an exceptional patient experience.

Finding the solutions that work for your business

athenaOne's integrated suite of electronic medical record, billing, and patient experience solutions offered a coherence Dr. Gregory had never experienced. “Previous to athenaOne, I had to take pieces and cobble them together, and that was really difficult to do,” she says. “Now, I have much better insight and control over all the processes that are involved in patient care"

What stuck out to Dr. Gregory in choosing an EHR partner, beyond the robust technology powering athenaOne®, was the philosophy of clinician-focused innovation and partnership at athenahealth.

"You have a very high-level person that's got your back," Dr. Gregory says of athenahealth's support approach. "And my goodness, the product development that goes on and the resources and the investment that athenahealth puts into really researching how we as providers move through our day and really try to take that feedback, they incorporate it into improvement."

Ambient Notes – revolutionizing Dr. Gregory’s efficiency

With athenaOne, Dr. Gregory already felt that she had a more physician-friendly solution to streamline care in her practice. Then came Ambient Notes, and she discovered a whole new level of efficiency.

The technology captures more comprehensive notes while also freeing Dr. Gregory up to engage directly with her patients in the visit, and patients have noticed. "The patients have shared that they have a better experience, having me look at them when I talk to them,” she shares.

Dr. Gregory quickly discovered that this effortless attention to detail in the notes also translated to better business outcomes. "There's so much more that the Ambient Notes capture in detail and correctly summarize into a legible, complete note, which...supports documentation for coding."

athenaOne® Medical Coding and Ambient Notes: An unbeatable combination

Before both Ambient Notes and athenaOne Medical Coding, Dr. Gregory’s coding process was time consuming but not comprehensive. “My codes were already built in and populated the claim forms, because my visits tend to be fairly predictable,” she says.

She didn’t realize how much revenue had been left on the table without coding support. “Now, I look back on that and realize that I had missed out on adding codes that had more to do with additional work provided,” she reflects. “I just didn’t think of it at the time. Compared with that, the current way in which the visits are coded, it’s much more robust and adequately reflects the work that we do, turning into better revenue for the practice.”

By leveraging the Ambient Notes clinical documentation in combination with the support of the athenaOne Medical Coding team, Dr. Gregory puts in significantly less work for significantly more comprehensive claims.

"Even though there are costs to these extra services, there's tremendous value,” she says. “I get my time back when it comes to coding, and I believe it will be a great return on investment."

More importantly, the partnership freed her practice to think more strategically as opposed to spending their time on administrative work. "By taking on some of the tasks that were time consuming and distracting, my staff and I are much more able to look at the big picture and be more sophisticated,” she says.

A world where documentation and coding happens in the background

Now, Dr. Gregory's days feel fundamentally different than they used to. She shares that she is calmer and more intentional. Patients can make appointments "like making a restaurant reservation" through the athenaOne Patient Portal. Her documentation is more thorough while taking less work. Her coding captures the full value of the care she provides—so she gets paid for the full scope of services rendered.

The most poignant victory comes back to the question that’s the crux of her medical practice. In reflecting on the true value of Ambient Notes and athenaOne Medical Coding, she says: "It's hard to put a price tag on such a better patient experience.”

Through strategic, intentional implementation of technology that works for her business, Dr. Gregory has paved a path where her tools serve both the bottom line and the patient-provider relationship.

Learn how athenaOne for Women’s Health, athenaOne Medical Coding, and Ambient Notes can create time, space, and efficiency in your practice to give patients in front of you the care they deserve while getting paid for the care you deliver. Schedule a conversation today.