eScription

Poudre Valley Health System

REWARDS OF UPGRADING TO BACKGROUND SPEECH RECOGNITION

Challenge

When the medical records department at Poudre Valley Health System (PVHS) went live with background speech recognition software from eScription, the organization did not realize how rewarding this seemingly daunting change was going to be. “Our decision to implement eScription software on the same, exact day our transcription volume was predicted to double because of the opening of a new hospital took a great deal of trust,” stated Dianne Fessler, Transcription Supervisor at PVHS.

"Poudre Valley Health System located in the area of Fort Collins, Colorado, is a regional network of healthcare facilities that includes two hospitals, an outpatient clinic, and a behavioral health clinic. In 2004 it found itself relying on an outdated medical record management system and an archaic dictation process, while anticipating an increase in transcription.

"The quality of our documentation system combined with horribly long turnaround times and $15,000 in overtime pay every two weeks signaled that change was needed," said Russ Branzell, CIO/VP IS and HR at Poudre Valley Health System. "We needed a better transcription process that would improve the productivity of our medical transcriptionists (MTs) and reduce our costs."

Solution

Poudre Valley Health System selected Computer Aided Medical Transcription (CAMT) software from eScription, Inc. to address its needs, and implemented the new system in May, 2006. Using intelligent background speech recognition, eScription software turns clinicians’ dictations into draft documents that are then quickly edited by MTs, typically doubling their productivity over traditional transcription. The PVHS decision-making team also valued how little the background speech recognition would impact clinicians’ workflow and how well it would integrate with its organization’s existing technology platforms.

"The implementation process was extremely smooth," noted Branzell. "eScription’s knowledgeable project management team worked closely with our project manager to define up-front all the interface and formatting requirements and the necessary distribution rules."

PVHS currently produces over 16 million lines of transcription per year, which represents an increase of seven million lines since the new eScription system went live. 90% of the dictation volume goes through the speech recognizer to produce first drafts for editing and this yield continues to improve. Through editing instead of traditional transcription, the organization’s MTs are achieving productivity gains of 90% or more, now enabling them to handle all of the transcription volume in-house.

Within one year of changing to CAMT, the organization realized cost savings close to $1 million, and it had a payback on its investment within seven months of implementation. Cost savings resulted from the organization’s ability to handle all work — including the significant volume increase — with its existing in-house staff, and to completely eliminate any need for outsourced services. In addition, overtime pay to MTs was reduced by $400,000 or 86% — from a peak of 500 hours/month to 50 hours/month — because reports are completed faster and not piling up as they would before.

All 30 MTs at PVHS were trained on the eScription transcription product prior to "go-live" to facilitate the transition to editing. With its Microsoft® Word-based interface, the product provides a familiar platform for the MTs, and it also includes many features that help speed the editing process, such as adaptive playback speed, a technology patented by eScription.

In addition, within a few months, PVHS noticed a marked improvement in the turnaround times for completed documents. "Our department benefited from a significant improvement," noted Bonnie Barlow, Assistant Transcription Supervisor at PVHS. "Discharge Summaries were running on an average 22 day turnaround time pre-implementation; today the average TAT is 24 hours." Similarly, Operative Notes are down to a three hour TAT from 37 hours.

Another key result of CAMT: the turnaround time reductions have led to quicker billing and faster accounts receivable by the organization. Added Barlow, "Improvements are noticeable across the board, in every department that depends on medical documentation."

Prior to the implementation of CAMT, clinicians frequently complained about the quality of documentation they received. "I have not heard one complaint about quality or turnaround time since moving to the eScription system," said Branzell. Further, there is no longer a risk of lost dictations because they are saved on eScription secure servers. "Hearing praise for an IT decision from all participants in the transcription process, from clinicians to our medical records staff, and reaching our goals, provides a great sense of accomplishment."

Results

"With help from eScription our transcription department significantly increased its productivity, leading to substantial cost savings."
— Russ Branzell, CIO/VP IS and HR

"eScription has been a lifesaver. Our improved turnaround time has assisted in timelier billing and excellent ratings in medical records documentation, reflected in our Malcolm Baldridge Award nomination."
— Dianne Fessler, Transcription Supervisor

Today at Poudre Valley Health System:

• A payback on the initial investment was realized within 7 months after implementation.
• The organization saved close to $1 million in one year.
• Turnaround times have been significantly reduced — for Discharge Summaries and Operative Notes in particular.
• MT productivity has increased, enabling the HIM department to handle additional transcription volume and to eliminate the use of outsourced services.
• Document management and workflow have improved; jobs are continuously assigned and moved quickly through the editing process.
• There is no longer a concern for lost dictations. Unlike the previous system that would delete dictations after five days, all dictations are now saved indefinitely on eScription servers.
• Superior document quality has eliminated lengthy telephone reviews in the coding process. Billing is faster and revenue capture improved.

Trust in eScription paid off for The Poudre Valley Health system that eliminated dependence on the need for outsourced services and gained over 90% productivity in a year. Learn more about the complete EditScript solution that is delivering real results to the Poudre Valley Health System in our Products section

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