Airrosti is a San Antonio-based healthcare group focused on pain management, with more than 300 clinics in five states. Ten years ago, Airrosti owned only around a dozen clinics. Leadership was eager to build patient volume and expand the clinic network within Texas and beyond.

THE PROBLEM

The problem was that each location had a different practice management process, primarily manual and paper-based. The lack of centralized electronic scheduling, clinical documentation, reporting and billing was impeding Airrosti's ability to implement ambitious growth plans.

PROPOSAL

"I thoroughly researched the available practice management software options but struggled to find a good fit," recalled Jody Green, vice president of application development at Airrosti. "The vast majority were large, complex systems developed for general medical practices and enterprise hospital systems that needed to track dozens of billing codes, generate multiple reports and manage complicated revenue cycles."

Airrosti's focused treatment and reimbursement model is much simpler, and its technology needs more straightforward.

"I figured it would be a waste of time and money to train administrators and practitioners how not to use 90% of a system's features," Green remarked. "Recognizing that we needed a customizable system that could easily be tailored to the organization's unique requirements, I zeroed in on Raintree Systems, whose low-code medical software was designed to simply, but effectively, optimize operations."

MEETING THE CHALLENGE

Airrosti worked closely with Raintree Systems to customize scheduling, clinical documentation, billing and patient communication systems to create a technological foundation designed for growth over the next decade and beyond.

"The right EHR and practice management systems can help you optimize productivity and operational efficiency, so you can focus on what you do best."

Jody Green, Airrosti

"Every step of the way, Raintree Systems has been there to help customize an existing solution or develop a new one to meet an evolving need, whether it's a direct referral tool, integrated faxing, automated patient contact reminders or an EHR that clinicians actually like using," Green said.

Raintree Systems' software is integrated with other systems at Airrosti, including:

• WayStar electronic claims processing. The healthcare organization has been able to automate the entire claims process, including payment remittances from insurance companies. It has achieved a 98% payer collections rate through this process.
• P-Verify real-time patient insurance verification. Airrosti also receives patient insurance benefits for immediate communication of cost per visit.
• Kno2 direct messaging. This is new for the healthcare organization, which uses it for referral and progress-note communications to and from other medical practices that participate in the direct messaging. This replaces faxing and emails for those participating.
• Physiotec. Staff use this to prescribe home exercise programs for patients. They use a combination of their videos and in-house videos.

The following integrations complement Raintree Systems' low-code platform, and all were developed by Airrosti using a combination of direct database access and two-way API communication:

• Phone system for call center screen pops and inbound email/text intelligent routing.
• Sage accounting system for various reporting applications.
• Budgeting system.
• Zoom for managing webinar events.
• Custom-developed patient portal.
• Physician app for schedule access and patient communications.

RESULTS

"Today, with Airrosti's use of this low-code platform, it has helped empower and fuel exponential growth, resulting in the company's expansion to 300-plus locations in five states, with patient volume multiplying 50 times over," Green reported. "In fact, the total number of patients treated annually over a period of ten years has expanded from 17,587 to 842,440."

Green credits the IT vendor's flexible platform with enabling Airrosti's practice management systems to scale seamlessly and cost-effectively.

"Adding a new location is now a streamlined, cookie-cutter process: Billing is totally automated, and all sites are completely paperless, minimizing back-office and labor costs," he said.

"And as new needs emerge, we continue to rely on Raintree Systems for solutions, such as the business intelligence tool it plans to integrate soon."

ADVICE FOR OTHERS

"Whether your practice focuses on therapy and rehab, bariatrics, pain management, behavioral health or another specialty medical area, it can be very challenging to balance administrative demands with the commitment to deliver high-quality patient care," Green advised. 

There are six key questions Green recommends asking when selecting a system and a technology vendor:

1. What are your strategic business goals? Are you looking to add locations, increase patient volume, boost practitioner satisfaction, improve profitability, expand into telehealth or strengthen patient engagement?
2. What functionality and features are your top priorities? Do you want to streamline workflow, enhance reporting, automate patient communication, automate insurance eligibility verification or improve analytics?
3. Is the system designed specifically for specialty practices? How well does the system address the needs of your particular specialty? Is it overly complicated? Can it scale with the anticipated growth of your practice?
4. How easily can the software be customized? How adaptable is the system's architecture? How easy is it to customize the clinical documentation, templates, reporting or other solutions to meet the unique and evolving requirements of your practice?
5. How user-friendly is the system? Is it intuitive to use? How much training will be required? Does it help your staff work more effectively and allow them to focus more time and energy on patient care?
6. Does the technology vendor have the qualities you want in a long-term partner? Does the vendor share your passion for solving challenges? Is the vendor committed to understanding your business model, technology requirements and goals? How willing is the vendor to work closely and consistently with you to customize solutions to meet your needs?

"The right EHR and practice management systems – and most important, the right technology partner – can help you optimize productivity and operational efficiency so you can focus on what you do best," said Green.

Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT
Email the writer: bsiwicki@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.