Executive Director,
Advanced Organ
Management,
Transplant and MCS
The Banner-University Transplant programs include liver, kidney, pancreas, advanced liver disease, advanced heart failure, heart transplant, as well as lung transplant programs. Both facilities have a long history of serving the Arizona community in providing transplant services for 35 years and counting.
Korsun is not new to using services from eHealth Technologies. She was among the company’s first customers not long after eHealth Technologies opened its doors back in 2006 offering medical record retrieval services. Since that time, she has introduced eHealth Technologies to three transplant centers where she has worked to help save time and transform tedious and time-consuming manual record retrieval into efficient automated processes.
According to Korsun, and the Directors at each facilities’ transplant programs—Darryl Lundeen and Jessica Zimont— services from eHealth Technologies have helped Banner-University Medical Center streamline the intake process.
Director,
Transplant Services
(Tucson)
Streamlined Intake Process
In the old model, recalled Lundeen and Zimont, clerical staff would spend hours tracking down medical records. Banner Health was able to save days, in some instances weeks, in terms of referral processing time by using eHealth Technologies to facilitate the collection of medical records necessary for the intake process. “When I got here, we were receiving faxed patient records of 50 plus pages at a time—if the fax machine was working! Staff was sorting through mounds of paper, giving an encyclopedia-sized file to a provider to read, then scanning these pages into the patient’s electronic record. Staff were handling those pieces of paper too many times, and it was very inefficient,” says Korsun. “Today, eHealth Technologies supplies one indexed file that can be immediately uploaded into a patient’s medical record for the provider to access. Providers are able to search the file by certain key words to find a particular piece of data that they need, which is a huge time saver.”
“eHealth Technologies supplies one indexed file that can be readily uploaded into a patient’s medical record for the provider to access. Providers are able to search the file by certain key words to find a particular piece of data that they need, which is a huge time saver.”
Angie Korsun, Executive Director, Advanced Organ Management
Transplant and MCS at Banner-University Medical Center, Phoenix/Tucson
Director,
Transplant Services
(Phoenix)
Enhanced Patient/Physician Communication
Organized, complete medical records have resulted in patients moving on more quickly to listing, if appropriate.
When a patient is a potential candidate for transplant, a complete medical record has helped Banner’s transplant programs facilitate more meaningful dialogue between the providers and patient. “The accurate record aids the providers in discussing what is usually a very complicated medical history that’s often very challenging for a patient to recall in the level of detail needed. Additionally, accurate documents lead to cost efficiency, eliminating duplicate testing and screening, as the needed results are already in the medical record,” Korsun shares.
Improved Accuracy of Medical Record
“A candidate for a transplant must meet exacting criteria, and referring providers rely on us to determine who qualifies,” Korsun explains. A patient’s medical history helps determine if a transplant is the right treatment. Sometimes a medical record can reveal something that is overtly contradictory to proceeding with transplant, or even an evaluation appointment. With the support of eHealth Technologies, Banner has a more complete picture to accurately review the patient’s medical record, which helps keep the transplant center on track to develop the most appropriate treatment plan for patients in a timely manner. While Korsun, Lundeen, and Zimont all say that efficiency, accuracy, and timeliness are the top three benefits Banner has realized from outsourcing medical record retrieval and organization services, eHealth Technologies also supports transplant centers in today’s challenging health care environment related to cost efficiency and staffing.
“Using eHealth Technologies, from my perspective, is an efficiency factor.”
Angie Korsun, Executive Director, Advanced Organ Management
Transplant and MCS at Banner-University Medical Center, Phoenix/Tucson
Up to 80% of costs to use eHealth Technologies are often reimbursable
For Banner, a large portion of eHealth Technologies’ costs are typically reimbursed once they are submitted on the Medicare Cost Report for eligible pre-transplant care patients. eHealth Technologies worked with Banner to set up the system so that patients are accurately labeled as pre-transplant activity. “This certainly helps to justify the expense of using eHealth Technologies,” said Korsun.
A creative staffing solution during workforce shortages
Using eHealth Technologies can also improve staffing utilization. By outsourcing the retrieval and indexing process, Banner was able to avoid adding clerical staff. Accurate medical records are imperative in the transplant process and maximizing the efficiency of some of the clerical pieces just makes sense, according to Korsun. “In this era of staff shortages, one has to be strategic in how all resources are being utilized and how this can have a direct impact on patient care.”
