Center for Sports Medicine Goes Paperless with HST
A 10-OR orthopedic ASC in Chattanooga replaced paper charts with HST, enabling same-day op notes, detailed case costing, and automated payments.
Seeing success with HST and a strong internal management team:
- Processes hundreds of thousands each month in patient payments with automated reconciliation
- Improved avg. days to bill by 40%
- Improved avg. days to collect by 26%
# of Centers: 1
Featured Solutions: Billing & Inventory, Scheduling & Care Communication, Electronic Charting, Patient Payments
Solutions in Use: Case Cost Forecasting, Patient Estimates, Data & Custom Reporting
Specialties: Orthopedics, Spine, Podiatry, Pain Management
State(s): TN
Customer type: ASC
Introduction
Center for Sports Medicine Orthopedic Surgery Center is a physician-owned, orthopedic-focused ASC in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The facility operates 10 operating rooms and averages about 700 cases per month, supporting spine, podiatry, and a broad range of core orthopedic procedures. Leadership spans both the clinic and ASC, with CEO Becky Farmer, ASC Administrator Amy Smith, and Business Office Manager Angela Ary working collaboratively to run a data-driven, physician-accountable organization.
Challenge
Prior to implementing HST, the surgery center relied entirely on paper charts and a legacy ASC-based billing system that offered minimal reporting capabilities. Leadership lacked visibility into true case costs, inventory usage, and operational performance, making it difficult to manage the business objectively.
These challenges were magnified as the center transitioned away from being managed by a management company to becoming fully physician-owned and managed by internal talent. Given the management change, the staff and physician owners felt it was an opportune time to change software in the hopes of improving data accuracy and workflow automation to support decision-making and team productivity.
The team initially selected another vendor, but during implementation it became clear to them that it would not deliver in areas they needed. That led them to consider alternatives. They desired a platform that could move the organization fully electronic without overburdening physicians, while still providing deep functionality for reporting, inventory control, cost accounting, and revenue-cycle operations.
The Solution
The Center for Sports Medicine Orthopedic Surgery Center selected HST and went live in December 2022. They were very happy with HST and the support they have received. The organization also participates in HST’s beta programs such as new AI solutions.
Implementation with HST was approached as a comprehensive process redesign rather than a simple software swap. The team invested significant effort in front-end configuration, ensuring inventory, staffing, and cost accounting data were built correctly so reports would be credible and actionable for physician owners.
Integration with Athenahealth was a key component of the solution. Because scheduling occurs on the clinic side, ASC staff can link cases directly and pull over only the necessary demographic and insurance data, keeping systems clean while maintaining accuracy.
To drive adoption, leadership built an internal training model with departmental super users and centralized questions through a single point of contact. HST’s remote go-live support allowed staff to ask real-time questions without introducing unfamiliar faces during a high-stress transition, contributing to a smooth implementation.
What HST offered us was having someone on the screen 24 hours so we could ask questions. There were no unfamiliar faces in a stressful time of going to a new software system. It worked great for our staff, and it worked great for the physicians. It ended up being one of the easiest implementations that we had due to HST gearing us up for our go-live date. It was wonderful.
– Amy Smith
The Results
Since going live, the organization supports approximately 700 cases per month across 10 ORs with a digital-first workflow that has improved documentation timeliness, reporting accuracy, and financial transparency.
Financially, the center has strengthened revenue-cycle performance and reduced manual work across the business office. With consistent workflows and clean data, the center also improved average days to bill by 38% and improved average days to collect by 15%.
One of the most significant outcomes has been physician accountability through reliable data. With accurate case costing in place, leadership can compare similar procedures across physicians, identify drivers of variation, and have fact-based conversations about performance and cost optimization.
Clinically, the elimination of paper charts has reduced administrative burden and normalized same-day documentation. Surgeons can complete and sign operative notes the day of surgery, preventing downstream delays in billing and reporting.
Reporting and compliance workflows have also improved. State and quarterly reports that once required assembling multiple data sources can now be generated quickly and accurately, saving staff time and reducing stress.
Financial operations benefited from automation as well. HST Pay replaced a fully manual credit-card reconciliation process with an automated, streamlined, and auditable workflow that accounting staff trust. This reduced daily processing steps and improved confidence in reporting for the millions of dollars they process per year in patient payments.
Patient and family experience improved as staff spend less time on paperwork and more time engaging face-to-face. Communication surgery boards provide families with real-time visibility into where patients are in the surgical process, offering reassurance during procedures.
We took the time to get the system set up appropriately on the front end, and we committed to using all the modules. It’s paid off multiple times over with our physicians. We joke that we can tell them what a case costs down to the cotton ball.
– Becky Farmer
The Future
Looking ahead, the Center for Sports Medicine Orthopedic Surgery Center plans to continue expanding its use of HST capabilities, participating in new betas and advancing automation across workflows.
Leadership also plans to refine specialty-specific workflows, including more complex surgical templates, while remaining closely engaged with HST’s product roadmap. With strong internal ownership and a trusted technology partner, the organization is positioned to continue optimizing performance while reinforcing physician-owner accountability.