Embracing Integrated, Efficient ASC Systems

The Challenge

Mississippi Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Center (MSMOC) has served patients since 2014. They started with eight beds and gradually expanded to twelve ORs and seven procedure rooms. They offer many orthopedic procedures, including total joint replacements, spine surgeries, and pain management treatments.

Since 2017, MSMOC has been using HST’s billing and inventory solution and transitioned from paper charts to HST’s electronic charting in October 2021. The decision to move away from paper charting was driven by the issues they experienced in gathering data and truly understanding their performance. They wanted to enhance efficiency and have a more streamlined charting system.

One significant challenge with paper charting for the facility was the time spent printing and preparing charts for the next day. Additionally, scanning charts and navigating through them during audits, such as peer reviews and quality assessments, proved time-consuming.

Despite initial reluctance from the staff and physicians, they recognized that transitioning to an EMR was essential for gathering accurate quality data and improving their ASC’s overall efficiency.

The Solution

With the implementation of HST solutions such as HST’s billing and inventory solution, electronic charting, and scheduling & care communication, their facility experienced significant improvements. For example, the ability to search for patient names or specific dates of service allowed them to effortlessly retrieve charts, making peer reviews and chart audits much simpler.

Mississippi Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Center were able to review pre-op times for each surgery, which helped their facility improve case costing and resource management, ultimately enhancing their team’s efficiency.

Additionally, MSMOC greatly values the seamless integration among HST Pathways’ systems, as it streamlines the entire patient journey. From reaching out to patients via text for estimates with HST’s patient estimates to checking them in through HST’s billing and inventory solution, using integrated systems together has significantly improved their facilities’ operational processes.

The Results

The implementation of HST products has allowed MSMOC to dive deep into case costing, enabling them to analyze the time spent by each surgeon in the operating room and the staffing needed for each procedure. This detailed understanding of variables within each case has helped them improve their overall processes.

By using HST’s electronic charting, MSMOC was able to eliminate the need for a full-time staff member to be dedicated to scanning and charting and reduce the reliance on temporary assistance for peer reviews, resulting in a great deal of cost savings and a reallocation of one full-time staff member to other more critical tasks.

Before implementation, they spent significant time customizing HST’s electronic charting to fit their exact requirements. This allowed for seamless integration once they went live, as staff could trial the system, provide recommendations, and implement those changes before the launch. This collaborative approach made the transition exceptionally smooth for their facility.

Additionally, MSMOC shared that their experience with HST’s Customer Support has been excellent. Whenever they encounter any issues, they reach out to the Customer Support team and respond promptly, often on the same day. They go above and beyond by conducting screen shares to see the issue firsthand and resolve it, or by working closely with the IT team to provide timely solutions.

Overall, the facility’s experience with HST Pathways has been highly positive. The ability to accurately analyze case costs, the resulting cost savings, the seamless integration, and the outstanding customer support have all contributed to MSMOC’s satisfaction.

The Future

As Mississippi Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Center looks to the future, they are excited about the range of HST Pathways’ products and how HST continues to enhance product integrations. The seamless flow of different systems into HST’s electronic charting holds promise for improving various aspects of the patient experience, including preoperative procedures, post-op phone calls, and surveys, all aimed at enhancing outcomes. They anticipate that HST Pathways will continue to think outside the box, proactively identifying the challenges faced by ASCs and developing innovative platforms to address them.