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Pawnee Mental Health Services Hits the Road with Remarkable Health’s CT|One Mobile App

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The delivery of quality behavioral health services comes with many challenges, especially in terms of portable documentation platforms. In order to assure compliance and billing efficiencies, providers need electronic health record (EHR) technology that can move with their clinicians and synch seamlessly back to the home office—especially when clinicians spend the bulk of their day serving clients in outlying locations.

Pawnee Mental Health Services (PMHS), headquartered in Manhattan, Kansas, serves 10 counties, many of them deeply rural. The not-for-profit organization provides a range of onsite and community-based services for adults and adolescents, including substance abuse and addiction recovery issues and emotional health support.

PMHS began looking for a behavioral health EHR solution in 2016. The organization decided on Remarkable Health’s fully integrated and ONC-certified EHR system, which includes clinical documentation, client engagement tools, billing interfaces and data analytics. The new system gave the agency all the functionality it desired—but only from the home office.

“When we compared other systems, we decided Remarkable Health’s EHR system was the best one for us, but we really needed a mobile application as well,” explains Shelli Schottler, LMSW, Community Services Director at PMHS. “So, in 2018, we agreed to be a beta test site for its new mobile app.”

Getting Mobile

PMHS began by introducing the CT|One Mobile app to 10 of its technology-savvy clinicians—about 10 percent of its staff. The agency’s clinicians use the app on smartphones, giving them access to client lists, client demographic information, case management documentation, scheduling tools and other features.

As an integral part of the project, the agency’s clinicians provide regular input on ease of use, functionality and the clinical and business improvements gained through the mobile functionality.

“We have weekly meetings with the Remarkable Health product team to provide our user feedback and pass along any issues we find.”

Continuity From the Field

Over the years, EHR systems have matured into great storage tools, but haven’t always been good travel companions. One of the biggest game-changers for PMHS was giving its clinicians the ability to tap into the client demographic information, case notes and appointment lists stored in its Remarkable Health EHR system from anywhere – regardless if they had an internet connection or not.

The CT|One mobile app gives clinicians the power of knowledge and efficiency before, during and after a client visit. From an Andriod or iOS smartphone, an agency worker can view client appointments for the next several days, create client notes at each visit and tap into information on the next client. The app saves all documentation and automatically sends the updated data to the agency’s EHR whenever the clinician logs in from a WiFi-capable area.

Being able to document securely from the road erases the distance between the home EHR and the field staff—and eliminates the risk of outdated client record information or not meeting compliance requirements.

Tracking updated appointment data on the mobile platform also saves clinicians from unnecessary travel if a client reschedules an appointment with short notice or changes service locations, a significant time-saver in rural areas where clients can be many miles apart.

Workforce Efficiencies

PMHS has seen many advantages to using the mobile app, but helping staff work better and smarter is the key workforce impact.

“I think the efficiency is probably the biggest advantage,” Schottler says. “The mobile app helps our staff stay more informed and know what is happening with the client before arriving for a visit. Based on the staff member’s role, the app enables clinicians to pull up notes from other providers quickly, which is helpful when our staff members are meeting with other agencies or individuals. That helps us work efficiently and be professional to others.”

Schottler remembers her own days in the field before electronic documentation tools were common. “Before EHRs, I’d have my client list on paper and would write my notes in my car on the way to my next appointment,” she recalls. Now, clinicians need deep case management tools and the ability to capture documentation at every remote site visit, both for efficiency and accuracy.”

“Clinicians are expected to be billing an eight-hour day, but depending on their jobs, they could be out in the field for anywhere from four to six hours a day,” Schottler says. “So that doesn’t give them a lot of time to sit down and document at their computers like an onsite therapist might be able to do.”

Documentation = Billing

Over the past few years, the expectations of timely billing documentation have condensed greatly. In today’s business environment, being able to document accurately and efficiently is becoming a key attribute of agency success—since it all comes down to how quickly the complete service delivery record moves to the claims processing stage.

Being able to capture and save documentation electronically from the field allows clinicians to complete their service documentation for faster billing—something PMHS says has improved its bottom line. “It used to be you could spend a day out in the field and do your documentation later, but now the expectation is basically 24 hours,” Schottler explains. “So, it’s very important for our staff to be able to document what services were delivered in a much shorter time frame.”

As business expectations increasingly connect timely documentation to revenue cycle management, behavioral health agencies are realizing their needs for EHR technology have shifted from being “paper-replacement tools” to becoming a technology partner in client outcomes management and agency efficiencies.

What’s Next

Next on PMHS’ wish list for app functionality is an easier way to accommodate client handoffs—passing an assigned client list from one clinician to another. And, sooner or later, Schottler says, speech-to-text technology will become every clinician’s next craving. Now that they are incorporating the mobile app into their everyday workflows, they plan to take full advantage of the documentation efficiency features already available, like text-to-speech, tagging, signatures and more.

The ultimate future for EHR mobile apps is to be to be able to do anything a clinician can do in the office, but from anywhere. “Ultimately, we’d love it if the entire EHR was accessible from the mobile app,” Schottler says. “That would allow clinicians to see the full treatment plans and maybe even the deeper conversations between behavioral health and primary care physicians.”

 

About Remarkable Health

For over 25 years, Remarkable Health has pioneered innovation through technology for behavioral health and DD providers. Our integrated suite of outcomes management, EHR and mobile technology arms providers with the tools they need to improve client outcomes by spending less time on documentation and inefficient workarounds and more time delivering value-based care and engagement. To learn more about the CT|One EHR and the CT|One Mobile app, contact us at (480) 550-8077 or visit our website at www.RemarkableHealth.com.

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Remarkable Health Launches Mobile Technology to Help Behavioral Health and DD Providers Adopt Value-driven Reimbursement Models

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New mobile capabilities drive innovation in clinical documentation, data analytics and client engagement

 

Scottsdale, Arizona: Remarkable Health, an innovative technology partner for behavioral health and DD providers, announced today new survey data on the IT readiness of behavioral health providers for value-based reimbursement models. The survey results reveal some red flags in preparedness, including a disconnect between the confidence in readiness and the actual IT progress toward readiness. Agencies still using traditional electronic health record technology are seeing the need to upgrade to capabilities that embrace the evolution of how clinicians work with clients and the way behavioral health services are documented and billed. Since many responding agencies also report the intention to expand their services in community- and home-based settings, readiness will increasingly involve the ability to capture clinical documentation in a mobile setting and to capture billing-ready service data from the field to improve client outcomes and lower care costs.

Another significant trend from the research is the change in how agencies document and track client engagement and client interaction in their treatment plans—and how well the agency’s technology is geared to embrace those shifts, whether the data is gathered in the field or on a client portal. However, among the issues involved in moving toward successful value-based reimbursement processes, survey respondents identify serious gaps in IT capabilities and staff data capture capabilities, as well as disconnects in documentation workflow and time-to-bill conversions.

At NATCON 2019, Remarkable Health is launching two new products to arm providers with innovative client engagement and clinical-based business intelligence tools.

  • Remarkable Health Insights: This mobile-friendly business intelligence dashboard empowers key stakeholders to make impactful business decisions by placing data at their fingertips, such as A/R balance/aging, appointments, authorization, claim status, progress note production, revenue treatment plan, unsigned notes and more.

 

  • Remarkable.me: Currently in early development, this client-facing mobile app will reduce dropout and no-show rates by improving the provider-client relationship with real-time engagement capabilities. Powered by Bells, an intelligent care assistant, machine learning will leverage the many data points captured by a provider’s EHR platform to increase engagement, enrich the care experience and keep staff informed of clients’ progress in between sessions.

“The mission at Remarkable Health is to help providers remove the obstacles to quality care and outcomes through technology,” says Peter Flick, CEO. “We want to partner with providers to collaborate and identify opportunities to shape technology for the shifts ahead through innovation and thoughtful development.”

Over the past year, Remarkable Health has worked closely with several providers to develop its offline mobile app for client information, case management documentation and scheduling. “I think the efficiency is probably the biggest advantage,” said Shelli Schottler, LMSW, Community Services Director at Pawnee Mental Health Services, Manhattan, Kansas, whose clinicians are using Remarkable Health’s CT|One Mobile EHR. “The mobile app helps our staff stay more informed and know what is happening with the client before arriving for a visit. Based on the staff member’s role, the app enables clinicians to pull up notes from other providers quickly, which is helpful when our staff members are meeting with other agencies or individuals. That helps us work efficiently and be professional to others.”

 

Visit us at NATCON 2019 at Booth 911 to hear CEO Peter Flick and and CTO Alan Ortego speak on how to remove the documentation and workflow obstacles to prepare for value-based payment models and other upcoming industry changes.

 

About Remarkable Health:

For more than 25 years, Remarkable Health has pioneered innovation through technology for behavioral health and I/DD service providers. We believe the services our partners deliver work best when centered around the needs of their clients. Our integrated suite of outcomes management, EHR, mobile and data analytics technology ensures the entire team is armed with the right tools to improve client outcomes and agency efficiency. Our solution flexes to the unique procedures, workflows and regulations of our partners so they can eliminate costly workarounds and focus on delivering value-based care and engagement. Experience the Remarkable difference, contact us at (480) 550-8077 or www.RemarkableHealth.com.

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Top 3 Features Within EHR Mobile Apps That Improve Documentation Efficiency for Community Behavioral Health Providers

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Community Behavioral Health providers can often face numerous challenges related to the documentation of services.  Providers often support large caseloads while needing to maintain productivity, meet documentation requirements and maintain exceptional client care.  With the increase in demand for providers to become more efficient, we look to technology for assistance in meeting these needs. After interviewing providers and partnering with them to develop the Remarkable Health EHR application, there were 3 features that stood out as critical to create efficiencies for staff delivering services and documenting care. These features include the ability to assist providers with efficiency and accuracy when documenting, ensuring documentation is signed and up-to-date, and creating and scheduling follow-up appointments.

Feature #1: Tagging Increases Efficiency and Accuracy When Documenting Care

Writing progress notes can be a time-consuming task. While some providers may write their notes directly after services are provided, there are many instances where notes are not written until several days after the contact with the client, which increases the chances of inaccuracies and/or missing facts.  With its simplistic look and feel, Remarkable Health’s EHR mobile application allows providers to enter notes with speed and accuracy, while maintaining the clinical workflow. While decreasing the time it takes to enter clinical notes is a positive step, accuracy and efficiency is the number one goal of the app. To increase the likelihood of clinically sound notes, we added a “tagging” feature to the EHR mobile application. The tagging feature allows the user to select a category in the assessment section of the progress note, which in turn, creates the beginning of a clinically appropriate progress note.  During the session with the client, the provider can continue to quickly select key words to develop their assessment. For example, if the client had a flat affect, the provider is simply tagging “flat affect” and the application will provide the following language “The client presents with a flat affect as evidenced by…” allowing the provider to add additional context to create a unified language with a client specific feel.

Feature #2: Simplified Signature Capabilities Makes it Easy to Keep Documentation Up-to-Date

Remarkable Health’s EHR mobile application allows a provider to review the client’s consent form(s) regardless of the location or internet connection. The provider can then discuss the consent form(s) with the client and upon client agreement to the content(s), he or she will confirm the agreement for one or multiple forms.  Once confirmed, the client will only need to enter their signature once, which will populate on all accepted forms.  Immediately after the form(s) has been successfully reviewed and signed by the client, the updated version will seamlessly sync back to their clinical record.

Features #3: Ad Hoc Scheduling Improves the Client Experience – And Helps Keep Clients Engaged

As the contact with the client wraps up, it is now time to schedule a follow up appointment.  Remarkable Health’s EHR mobile application gives the provider the ability to review their schedule, find an opening and schedule their next appointment with the client.  This eliminates the need to call the office and speak to the front desk staff to schedule the next appointment, ultimately saving time for both the staff as well as the client.  All openings and next 10 consecutive appointments are available at your fingertips in the mobile application, thus creating a seamless workflow and positive experience for the client.

BONUS Feature:  A TRULY Offline Mobile Application Improves Coordination and Efficiency

It is important point out one additional bonus feature of Remarkable Health’s EHR mobile application, the ability to work offline.  All of the previously mentioned features to increase efficiencies can be completed without a cellular/Wi-Fi connection, resulting in a completely offline experience.  Within one client contact, the provider has efficiently reviewed and updated the client’s consent form, scheduled a follow up appointment and completed their progress note in an accurate and timely manner.

Ready to experience the Remarkable Difference? Visit our website to learn more about our mobile application and schedule a demo today.