Company profile
With nine hospitals and hundreds of physician practices and post-acute care facilities, this integrated health services organization is dedicated to serving the people of the American Northeast across the entire care spectrum.
The challenge
Despite offering robust surgical services, the organization faced challenges when trying to improve the bottom line of their operating rooms (ORs). An evaluation of surgical scheduling revealed that inaccuracies were causing lost revenue due to some cases ending early (leaving ORs empty) and other cases exceeding their scheduled time (resulting in delays).
The primary issue was identified as a lack of granular clinical documentation. Procedures were often documented using generic or inaccurate terms, leading to inconsistencies in scheduled case durations. Furthermore, some procedures were not aligned with the standard code set, Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®), resulting in missed procedure codes. This absence of standardized terminology and comprehensive code mapping significantly hindered the organization’s ability to maximize OR utilization.
The solution
To improve surgical scheduling, the organization prioritized measuring and improving case duration accuracy. Since procedure terminology in the surgical dictionary informs each case’s length and would thus be key to any real improvement, they turned to IMO Health for help.
IMO Core Periop was implemented to strengthen their surgical dictionary. This solution minimizes duplicate terms and enriches the dictionary with more specific terminology, enabling more precise scheduling of procedures. It also ensures standardized procedure descriptions, accurate code mappings, and automatic updates for annual CPT releases, thereby maintaining a clean and current surgical dictionary.
Key results
IMO Core Periop has significantly enhanced the organization’s electronic health record (EHR) system capabilities. It now accurately applies unique time averages to each surgical procedure across the health system’s multiple sites. This improvement is crucial, considering the surgical procedure list encompasses thousands of records and a wide range of cases. The result: just eight months after implementing IMO Core Periop, the organization witnessed an impressive 13.7% improvement in the accuracy of case duration predictions.
Looking forward, the organization is exploring further applications of IMO Core Periop. One key area of focus is the reduction of denials for procedures incorrectly identified for inpatient or outpatient settings. By leveraging IMO Core Periop, they aim to more accurately track and manage these cases, enhancing overall operational efficiency.
