Helping people receive high-quality, timely medical care is a top priority for our client, a nationally based health care solutions firm that serves as a “personal health care assistant” to customers’ employees as part of their health benefits. This successful firm relies on the quick, efficient transfer of medical records and images to schedule patient appointments and medical second opinions as soon as possible.
Faced with an enormous surge in records requests during the first quarter each year, the firm reached out to eHealth Technologies to support their internal staff and retrieve, organize, and deliver patient data more swiftly and efficiently on an ongoing basis—especially during peak volumes.
The Challenge: Staff Swamped by Volume Upswings
Our first task was to analyze the client’s workload to determine how we could support them. We learned that the firm’s busiest time is between January and March when employee benefits renew. During these peak times, their volume typically doubled. Flooded with an influx of requests, their in-house medical retrieval group could not handle all the work without doubling its staff.
The firm was frustrated because their number-one priority is to help patients get the medical care they need so they feel better and get back to their work and personal activities sooner. A big factor in reaching this goal, the client explained, is to promptly process requests and deliver records to providers in an accessible, readable format. In cases where patients are seeking an expert opinion, the firm utilizes Intelligent Clinical Record® services to organize collected records and expedite the process.
The Solution: A Flexible Resource for Scalable Support
Based on the firm’s forecast of anticipated volumes, the eHealth Technologies team adjusts to record requests based on volume projections. Using our eHealth Connect Record Retrieval services allow the client to keep their workforce steady while maintaining a consistent service level during Q1 upswings.
Staff from the firm inputs individual patient record requests into the eHealth Connect portal—a process that takes minutes. The status of each request is available in real-time in the portal. In addition, there is a two-way communication tool in the portal that the firm’s staff use to ask follow-up questions about requests from the eHealth Technologies team. Once records are retrieved, eHealth Technologies uploads them into the portal for the firm’s staff to quickly and securely download.
Today we continue to support the firm with medical records retrieval and organization for two types of requests:
Office Visits—When our customers’ employees need medical care, our team shifts into gear to collect the necessary records and images needed so the firm can schedule that first appointment as soon as possible. Quick, efficient access to patient data in an organized manner not only expedites care—it ensures providers have a complete “story” for each patient who comes to see them. We handle requests nationally as well as internationally.
If the employee requires a specialist’s care, we have the expertise to deliver the appropriate patient information in the most efficient way. Tapping our experience working with leading health care organizations across the country, we have developed clinician-approved approaches regarding what medical records, images, and pathology are needed to assess a new patient in specialty areas such as oncology, transplant, orthopaedics, and other specialties.
Expert (Second) Opinions—When an individual is diagnosed with a serious medical condition, they often want to seek a second opinion. This is another key service the firm provides to its customers. Expert opinions require collecting records from multiple locations per request, which often takes more staff time. Turnaround times are important for expert opinions because faster delivery of records allows patients to get the care they need.
Our solution reduces multiple hand-offs/touches of medical records because they are retrieved and organized in a format that can be deposited directly into the treatment facility’s EMR. In addition to providing record and imaging retrieval customized by specialty area, we provide indexing for expert opinions that feeds directly into their EMR system.
The Results: Consistent Service, Successful Partnership
Today, with support from the eHealth Technologies team, the firm is managing its year-round requests and Q1 volume upswings smoothly and efficiently without overwhelming its in-house team. Our client reports they are yielding consistent turnaround times for scheduling expert opinion appointments, which allows their customers’ employees to receive a second opinion in a timely manner.
“Now our client has the flexibility to acquire new business and accommodate volume upswings as their customer base grows. They see us as a partner and we share the same goals—to do work that benefits patients,” says Hannah Henderson, eHealth Technologies’ Client Services Manager.
Ann Marie Winder, Director of Client Communication and Special Training, agrees. “Partnership is really a key word that describes our relationship with this client. They are always looking for feedback on how they can better serve their customers. They are a great team.”
“Our client has the flexibility to acquire new business and accommodate volume upswings as their customer base grows,” says Hannah Henderson, eHealth Technologies’
Client Services Manager
