On the surface, comparing the cost of two admissions solutions may appear straightforward. With some variations on how products are priced, the end cost calculation for each will give you the comparable direct cost of ownership. But, this only tells part (often a tiny part) of the total cost of ownership.
For palliative and hospice facilities, labor costs are the highest cost center. Many activities are in person when managing the admissions process, with an admissions nurse visiting the patient and family. From the explanation of benefits to gathering signatures, staff spends hours scheduling, traveling, and in meetings. When revisions or corrections are needed, even more time is needed. Any hospice admissions tools need to minimize the time required of the staff while maintaining service levels.
What are the non-direct costs of ownership?
After working with customers, we have identified several key areas where our software can significantly reduce the costs associated with the hospice and palliative care admissions process.
Time on EOB
Explanation of benefits typically requires an admissions nurse to sit with the patient and family to go over all the information, answer questions, and ensure they understand what can be expected. This conversation may only take 10-15 minutes, but the time adds up when multiplied by the number of patients and any additional conversations with family members.
Finding NPI
Seams pretty straightforward, but finding the correct information for the NPI and manually entering their information takes unnecessary time.
Medical Records Collection
Gathering documentation, organizing, and processing/uploading them may take 15-plus minutes per patient. Again, when multiplied by the number of patients, a lot of time (and expense) is involved in information gathering.
Time to fix Consent Form Errors
When they occur, fixing errors can take much more time than the original collection process. Creating a new record envelope (in some E-sig apps), the nurse’s time rescheduling and visiting the family, and researching other possible locations for the error(s), add up quickly.
We have developed a Total Cost of Ownership model that provides a comparison of TCO between SMARTMD and other solutions. By creating a solution using digital transformation, we have been able to minimize the indirect cost of ownership. So, in addition to having a lower direct cost, we significantly minimize the over cost for the admissions process for facilities.
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