My team loves the scheduling feature. They like to know what’s on their schedule for the week and month. It makes it easy for them to make sure visits are locked in place, and nothing gets behind.”
Julie Huxford, SGMC Clinical Informatics and Education CoordinatorThe Challenge
In the southern most part of Georgia lies Hospice of South Georgia (HOSG), a hospital-based hospice in the city of Valdosta. With a 15-bed inpatient unit, Hospice of South Georgia serves the sick and elderly with an average census of roughly 115. As the Clinical Informatics and Education Coordinator, Julie Huxford is responsible for the electronic medical records for the training of new employees, as well as any troubleshooting with electronic health records (EHRs).
Previously, Hospice of South Georgia used a different software solution where many issues popped up. For example, the solution was not able to streamline inpatient documentation efficiently. “We needed something that was really stronger toward the inpatient setting, specifically an electronic medication administration record – the current EMR did not have that,” explained Huxford.
Implementing an EHR solution that provided easy workflow capabilities and efficiencies also proved to be critical. With the original software HOSG first used, it became a challenge to manage two separate databases, as nurses often found themselves waiting for data to flow over from one database to the other for clinicians to document. Relying on a software solution that would eliminate these day-to-day problems was key.
Customer service is just so committed to making sure that we feel comfortable and that things are working the way they are supposed to work.”
Julie Huxford, SGMC Clinical Informatics and Education CoordinatorThe Solution
Adopting Net Health Optima Hospice as their go-to software solution has allowed HOSG to have an ease-of-use system in place for their clinicians. “With Optima, our clinicians are much more efficient than they used to be,” said Huxford.
Net Health Optima Hospice has also provided the following benefits to its staff, both to nurses and clinicians:
- IDT capabilities that streamline workflow process
- Easy scheduling and calendar features for visits
- Easy-to-understand training documentation
- Seamless integration of nursing and patient care plans
Other features that have helped streamline workflow processes include capabilities for the integration of home care and inpatient. “The way that documentation can basically flow back and forth, from allowing you to take it straight from the home care setting, then bring them to the inpatient setting is impressive,” noted Huxford.
The Results
Net Health Optima Hospice has made a difference for HOSG not only in their everyday operations, but with helping cut down on costs as well. “There’s been a cost savings just from switching to Optima from the product we used before,” said Huxford.
Since starting their journey with Net Health Optima more than two years ago, HOSG has also recognized additional benefits that include:
- Responsive and friendly around-the-clock customer service
- Staff members being more efficient in their everyday workflows
- Smoother billing processes all around
- Easy calendar and visitation tracking
- Reports being run more quickly
- More quality time spent with patients