Cheyenne Women’s ClinicOpens Doors As a Paperless Practice and Thrives

Case Study

At a Glance

Organization

Cheyenne Women’s ClinicCheyenne, Wyo.

– Six-provider OB-GYN practice

– More than 8,500 active patients

Solution Spotlight

– Practice Partner® AppointmentScheduler

– Practice Partner® Medical Billing

– Practice Partner® Patient Records

Critical Issues

– Launching a new practice

– Effectively managing patientcare and financial priorities

– Establishing a solid foundationfor growth

Results

– Revenue growth averagingmore than 20% per year

– Highly efficient operation with overhead running atapproximately 30% of revenue(compared with 40% to 50%for the typical OB-GYN office)

– Improved cash flow and A/R(average collection time is less than two weeks)

AnswersWhile visiting an office with thePractice Partner integrated EHR and practice management system,the physicians were struck by thesolution’s intuitive look and feel.“Rene immediately felt comfortablewith Practice Partner,” recalls Dr. Storey. “She was delighted thata computer program could look likea chart. I could see that it would beeasy to make it work for the needsof our practice.”

To prepare for the grand opening,Dr. Storey and McKesson’s teambegan a rapid implementation. Dr. Storey functioned as the internalsuperuser, working with McKessonstaff to configure the software.

Cheyenne’s business plan called fora ramp up to a full schedule overabout six to nine months; however,the practice underestimated thedemand for services. Within 30 daysafter the launch, physicians had full schedules and added more than150 new patients a week. Sincemany of these patients were fromexisting practices, they brought with them their paper charts.

Using Practice Partner, Cheyenneestablished a streamlined processfor the rapid influx of patients.During the initial visit with thepatient, nurses and medical

When Cheyenne Women’s Clinicopened its doors, all systems werego. The new practice had alreadyimplemented the Practice Partner®

system of integrated electronichealth record (EHR) and practicemanagement applications fromMcKesson. With this solution inplace, Cheyenne began operationswith efficiencies that most OB-GYN practices lack: a paperlessenvironment, seamless access topatient records both on-site andremotely, and optimal patientflow and revenue cycle processes.As a result, Cheyenne was able to realize lower than averageoverhead and revenue growthaveraging more than 20% per year.

ChallengesWhen Jeff Storey, M.D., and Rene Hinkle, M.D., launched theirpractice, they knew they wantedan EHR system. “The writing wason the wall that an EHR wouldultimately be a requirement forpractices,” explains Dr. Storey. “We could both see that it offeredhuge advantages for an obstetricspractice in terms of access topatient charts. Neither one of uswanted the hassle of going to theoffice in the middle of the nightto retrieve patient informationlike we had to at our previouspractice.”

Copyright © 2009 McKesson Corporation and/or one of its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. Practice Partner is aregistered trademark of McKesson Corporation and/or one of its subsidiaries. All other product or companynames mentioned may be trademarks, service marks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.PRT375-03/09

“We started our own practice

because we wanted to try

new ideas and new ways of

doing things. Practice Partner

software has been central to

helping us realize this goal.”

Jeff Storey, M.D.

Cheyenne Women’s Clinic

McKesson Provider Technologies

5995 Windward ParkwayAlpharetta, GA 30005

http://www.mckesson.com/practicepartner1.800.770.7674

Case Study

assistants would enter the patient’shistory into the EHR. On the twodays that doctors were in surgery,the staff would scan and indexinformation from the paper chartinto Practice Partner.

Cheyenne also streamlined its billing processes. Paper superbillswere replaced by the electronicencounter form in Practice Partner®

Medical Billing.

The E&M coding wizard in PracticePartner® Patient Records helps the doctors accurately code visitswithout guesswork. Storey is very impressed by the accuracy of the coding wizard: “We have certified coders checking all chargesagainst our documentation, andthey rarely change the code Practice Partner assigns.”

With a secure remote connection to the server at Cheyenne, thephysicians can access patient recordsat home or the hospital. Because ofthe solution’s integrated fax servercapability, they can electronically faxdocuments directly from PracticePartner. This feature has proven useful when the doctors need acopy of the patient’s history andphysical exam to prepare to delivera baby or perform a surgery.

ResultsCheyenne’s rapid and efficientgrowth allowed it to quickly pay offits startup loan within five monthsof opening its doors.

Careful fine-tuning of the practice’sinternal processes provided a solidfoundation for expansion: Fourproviders have been added in thepast 18 months, and the practice is expected to increase the number of monthly baby deliveries from 30 to 50.

Cheyenne’s financials are impressive.Annual revenue is increasing atmore than 20% per year, while overhead is unusually low at roughly 36% (compared to 45% to55% overhead of a typical OB-GYNpractice). Part of the reason for the lowoverhead is that Practice Partnereliminates the need for specializedmedical record personnel.

Cheyenne uses Practice Partner to affect costs in other ways too.The Practice Partner practice management solution combinedwith strong billing service hasshrunk collection times from 45 days to less than two weeks.

“We started our own practicebecause we wanted to try new ideasand new ways of doing things,”concludes Dr. Storey. “PracticePartner has been central to helpingus realize this goal.”