The Challenge

When referred Therapy Outpatient and Wellneslaunched with Alinea in 2022, they operated 3 outpatient locations serving 935 visits annually. They had ambitions to expand aggressively – but manual, paper-based processes held them back. They needed a way to scale to serve more than 30 times the number of locations and visits without overwhelming their teams. 

Key challenges included: 

• Manual intake processes. Patient registration workflows were time-consuming and inconsistent across sites, delaying patient onboarding. 
• Insurance verification bottlenecks. Manual verification processes were not sustainable with rapid expansion, with less than half of benefit verifications completed within 2 business days.  
• Prior authorization complexity. Their growing volume of prior authorizations, along with communication gaps between the field and centralized teams, slowed turnaround times. 
• Lack of a referral management system. Opportunities to convert leads into patients were missed due to an inability to track referrals from multiple sources or ensure consistent follow-up. 
• Gaps in patient engagement and payment. Patient registration rates lagged at new locations, and only about 5% of active patients had a payment source on file. 

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The Solution

PTOW went live on Alinea in just 25 business days. Alinea provided an integrated, configurable solution that automated time-consuming processes, centralized complex revenue cycle workflows, and seamlessly scaled with their growth.  

Alinea’s Lead Link captured referrals from multiple channels, including Short-Stay SNF transitions, website registrations, and executive director referrals, to ensure no potential patients were missed. Intake was digitized and standardized across all sites, with over 95% digital completion.  

Instant eligibility checks were enabled via Waystar integration, with over 15% of returning patients auto-verified. Prior authorization workflows were simplified between cross functional teams, increasing submission turnaround time by 91%. Telehealth was expanded to 112 locations across the full Preferred Therapy Solutions network. 

Improvement Over Time

Prior authorization submissions: From 1.48 days to 0.71 days (91% faster) 
Insurance verifications completed within 2 business days: From 47% to 80% (70% faster)  

Efficiency Gains

• Scalability: 30x growth in locations and visits without proportional RCM staffing increases 
• Lead link referral management: Captured leads across three channels with centralized tracking and follow-up, eliminating lost opportunities to convert referrals to therapy  
• Patient onboarding: Over 20 minutes saved per new patient via streamlined intake 
• Insurance verifications: 70% faster turnaround time, with 15% of returning patients auto-verified without staff intervention  
• Prior authorization submission: 91% faster, with 30-90 minutes saved per prior authorization processed  

Business Impact

PTOW grew by 30 times in locations and visits without proportional increases in revenue cycle staffing. Alinea’s centralized workflows and automation helped PTOW accelerate growth and margins to achieve objectives that otherwise would’ve required significant additional headcounts. PTOW even achieved a Net Promoter Score of 100 during their fastest growth period. 

Alinea’s flexibility allowed PTOW to continuously adapt workflows as new locations came online, new service lines launched, and the organization expanded into Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut — all without compromising quality of care or operational efficiency.