Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center Advances Internet Based Communications with ProviderLink
ProviderLink, Inc., (www. providerlink. com), a healthcare I. T. communications company dedicated to helping clients build results-driven online communities, announced today that Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, the largest private medical center in Louisiana, has successfully implemented ProviderLink's communication tools. The medical center's case management team is now using ProviderLink to communicate online with government and private payors, as well as skilled nursing facilities, all through a single interface and workflow.
Cary, North Carolina, (PRWEB) January 18, 2006 –
ProviderLink, Inc., (www. providerlink. com), a healthcare I. T. communications company dedicated to helping clients build results-driven online communities, announced today that Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, the largest private medical center in Louisiana, has successfully implemented ProviderLink's communication tools. The medical center's case management team is now using ProviderLink to communicate online with government and private payors, as well as skilled nursing facilities, all through a single interface and workflow.
Paige Hargrove, RN, BSN, CCM, and director of medical case management at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center (OLOL) comments on the implementation, “Within a matter of days our case management team and discharge planners were able to communicate referral information to skilled nursing facilities via the Internet. Referrals and associated forms can be instantly broadcast to skilled nursing facilities. This improves our patient throughput and gives the patient seamless movement through the care delivery system.” Their paper-based system, while useful for the time, became very cumbersome and difficult to manage. Hargrove continued “Without an audit trail of what information was sent to whom and when, it was difficult to identify communication breakdowns. Often, the whole process of sending referrals had to be completed again from the beginning.” With ProviderLink, employees can easily look up the communication history of any patient. Staff can quickly bring themselves up to speed and interchange with one another, without disrupting the flow or accuracy of patient referral information.
Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center strives to gain the same positive outcomes WakeMed Health and Hospitals, a 752 bed network of medical centers, ambulatory care centers, and outpatient facilities in North Carolina has realized. The WakeMed Hospital – Raleigh campus - reports a 1.35 day reduction in length of stay for patients being discharged to extended care facilities. WakeMed attributes this decrease in length of stay to operation improvement initiatives and ProviderLink's tool set, which enabled them to communicate via the Internet, crucial forms and information necessary for discharge.
In addition to the discharge planning process, ProviderLink is being used at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center to communicate insurance reviews to the state Medicaid program and private payors. By moving the paper workflow to an online environment OLOL will gain tighter control of their revenue cycle management, which could lead to increased cash flow and decreased accounts receivable days. Robb Hutchison, vice president of sales at ProviderLink applauds the medical center's tenacity, “Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center is committed to the use of technology for improving patient communications. They lead the way within the Louisiana hospital system towards unified patient information exchange.”
ProviderLink's presence in the Louisiana region is growing rapidly. OLOL, Louisiana State Medicaid, and Central Management Services, owner of 17 nursing facilities throughout the state are currently ProviderLink users. ProviderLink has also been endorsed by the Louisiana Nursing Home Association.
About ProviderLink
ProviderLink (www. providerlink. com) is an I. T. communications company providing an innovative technology and methodology to successfully create online healthcare communities and information exchange initiatives. Using ProviderLink's Internet-based tools, clients are empowered to manage all of their communication transports such as fax, EDI, forms, web portals and paper communications through a single interface, workflow and patient-centric audit trail. Customers include major hospitals, post-acute care facilities, medical equipment companies, physician practices, private payors, Medicaid programs and RHIO initiatives. ProviderLink combines practical, non-invasive and cost-effective Internet-based technology and consulting services to help clients implement best practices around their communication workflows. Most important, ProviderLink empowers its customers with both the vision and tools they need to drive provider adoption of online communications while creating a smooth migration path to automating information exchanges with all of their communication partners. Contact ProviderLink at www. providerlink. com or 866.398.2804.
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