Client Story
Managed Services at Springhill Medical Center: A testimony for success
How Managed Services functions at Springhill Medical Center
Springhill Medical Center, located in the heart of Mobile, Alabama, has been one of Altera Digital Health’s most collaborative and longest-standing clients since 2000. It implemented the fully integrated Sunrise EHR platform almost two decades ago in 2004. A unique and important piece of Springhill’s relationship with Altera is demonstrated through its long-tenured Managed Services team that has been a part of Springhill since the very beginning.
The Managed Services team works onsite to support all aspects of the facility’s IT infrastructure as well as all Altera solutions and any third-party applications the facility may have. “The hospital trusts the Managed Services team with all its technology, its patients and its data. The team often includes us in a lot of decision-making for the organization,” Managed Services CIO, Delanea Radbourne, said.
The department consists of 28 employees that comprise four main groups: a full desktop team, a full business services team that supports all non-clinical applications (such as payroll and supply chain), a clinical/clinical technical team that manages upgrades, server builds, report writing and more, as well as an integration team that handles all interfaces/integration between all ancillary systems.
From Radbourne’s perspective, the service brings significant value to both Altera and Springhill. “Managed Services brings Altera and the hospital organization together. We sit in between the two and are advocates for both organizations,” Radbourne said.
Through underlying trust and strong working relationships, the Managed Services team have delivered monumental success stories time and time again.
Charge capture increase Collected
$220 more per patient visit
Enabled coding consistency
Removed complexities through standardized processes
Managed Services successes
Expenditure Request System
The IT/IS department created a solution that eliminated the need for an outdated paper process system. The old system needed multiple signature approvals that sometimes took weeks to complete, resulting in delays. The Expenditure Request System takes weeks off equipment purchasing, maintenance renewals and approvals. The new system produced benefits like historical tracking of all purchases, email notifications of the process, timeliness, access to analytics and overall automation.
Opiate Stewardship
The Opiate Stewardship solution generates automatic Narcan orders when a narcotic medication is placed in Sunrise. The system has hard stops on IV opiate orders that reach beyond maximum dose range. Along with several other pharmacy processes and documentation changes, the system played a part in decreasing Narcan rescues from 33 in 2019 to 9 in 2021.
Creating Sunrise Financial Manager
After the implementation and success of the Sunrise EHR at Springhill, it became imperative that financial data should be integrated to provide the bigger picture. Allscripts developers worked onsite with Managed Services and Springhill to develop features and functionality for Sunrise Financial Manager. The comprehensive financial solution is designed to adapt to new reimbursement models and offer full revenue cycle functionality. After the implementation of Sunrise Financial Manager, Springhill was quickly able to reap the benefits of the solution. For example, the target was to have 20% of Accounts Receivable (A/R) at less than 90 days, and Springhill achieved 14.3% in 2020. Target net days in A/R was less than 45, and the organization averaged 38 days in 2020. These results beat a national benchmark for A/R, which is an average of 47.8 days. Days Not Final Billed came in at an average of 5.28 days in 2020, below the target of 5.50 or fewer days.
Achieving HIMSS Stage 7
Springhill Medical Center is not only the first hospital in Alabama to achieve HIMSS EMRAM Stage 7, but also the first Altera hospital client to achieve it. Organizations reach Stage 7 by establishing strong analytic capabilities and advanced, meaningful technology in a healthcare setting. Stage 7 is the highest level that an organization can reach, and Springhill first achieved this in 2016, later re-attesting this impressive status in 2019 and 2022.
The team at Springhill says that the success and achievements are owed to the hospital and its staff, the functionality of the Sunrise EHR platform, and the tight-knit Altera Managed Services team. When explaining what being a HIMSS EMRAM Stage 7 hospital means to Springhill, Elizabeth Wilson, RN, Clinical Systems Manager said, “Achieving HIMSS Stage 7 is a huge accomplishment. There are a lot of government requirements that are out there in general, but this takes it a little bit farther. It’s all about security within your facility and how you are taking what you are using in the system and providing better outcomes for the hospital, as well as improving patient safety and quality care. It’s a big deal for our hospital to accomplish this.”
Created first public facing COVID-19 vaccine clinic
IT/IS created a system that automatically created vaccine orders based on clinic visit creation, with automation for COVID-19 information on the EMR and Health Manager. The information was then sent electronically to state databases. Within the system, reporting was created for internal tracking of staff and physician vaccine statuses. This enabled Springhill to give nearly 30,000 vaccines in the first few months the vaccine’s release-processing up to 800 vaccinations in a six-hour day using Altera automation and workflow design. This generated unplanned revenue on 15,000+ visits in 2021 for vaccinations and antibody injections.
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Springhill Medical Center benefits from Altera Managed Services
Managed Services and Springhill Medical Center are no strangers to producing meaningful outcomes. Since 2000, the team members have proven time and time again that they play a large part in what it takes to run a successful hospital. When asked to weigh in on the impact that Managed Services have made over the years, CEO Jeff St. Clair said, “Springhill has had a relationship with Altera Managed Services for more than 20 years. [The team has] managed us into being one of the only two HIMSS Stage 7 hospitals in the state of Alabama. We have benefited from their tremendous knowledge, bench depth and their highly focused attention to our IT needs and strategies alike.”