Physicians Pain Center: Saving 30 Hours per Week and Improving Operations by Switching to ModMed Pain Management

Learn how the practice increased efficiency and saved time with all-in-one pain management software

BACKGROUND

Physicians Pain Center provides comprehensive conservative and interventional pain management treatments. The providers treat a multitude of acute and chronic conditions, including, but not limited to, spine and musculoskeletal problems, neurological conditions, headaches, neuropathies and cancer-related pain.

After a decade with their previous system, the physicians felt it was taking too many clicks and too much time to document patient encounters. They decided to look at other solutions, with their main goal being to gain personal time back into their days.

Office Manager Kimberly Palmer has been with the practice for over 20 years. She shares why they chose to switch to ModMed^® Pain Management and the positive impact the all-in-one software has made on the practice.

A PAINLESS TRANSITION

The decision to switch came down to the need for efficiencies and the providers not wanting to spend so much time charting after hours. We looked at many systems and whittled it down to three options. The biggest push for us to go with ModMed was the integration of EMA^® and the Practice Management (PM) systems. After seeing a demo of the software, we felt that once learned, we would experience significant time savings and process improvements.

Our transition was painless. The sandbox environment allowed us to experiment as much as we wanted. That was key for us in addition to the training sessions available on ModMed U that allowed our staff to learn at their own pace. We then had trainers come on-site to our locations to be there for go-live. We only reduced our schedule for about a week and quickly got back to full patient volume. The ModMed team we worked with was phenomenal and extremely helpful. The amount of resources that continue to be available to us as users is very much appreciated.

CHARTING AND BILLING FASTER

The providers have been very happy with EMA. The adaptive interface enables them to flow through the chart with ease, providing access to radiology, reports, etc., resulting in significant time savings in documenting. To them, saving time has been invaluable and was their main goal.

Prior to ModMed, 50% of charts were completed after hours. Now, only 15% of charts are done outside of business hours, and some of those are by preference, since providers can access EMA from home. Because the notes are completed faster, the bills go out quicker, improving our cash flow.

EFFICIENT PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

On the business side, scheduling is faster, and it’s much easier to adjust the schedule if needed. The wait list pops up if we have available slots helping to keep our schedule full. The PM system is also more fine-tuned. Posting ERAs electronically is easier, quicker and takes out human error.

In an HMO world that requires authorizations from primary care physicians, the authorization linking has been a big time saver. I had a full-time staff member who spent 60% of her time tracking all of the authorizations for all of our patients and linking them to the appropriate visit via an Excel spreadsheet. Now, we can track everything within the PM system, which saves around 30 hours a week of staff time.

GOODBYE THIRD-PARTY VENDORS

With our previous software, I had to manually enter the charges. Now that we have an all-in-one system, the data entry aspect is eliminated, and now I’m able to focus on other things. Not only has it saved time, but it has increased the communication from billing to the front office as far as what needs to be collected. My staff is much more equipped to handle questions on the spot from patients, such as what is their copay. The system is laid out for them easily to follow along providing seamless access to the information they need.

With ModMed Pay, we’ve been able to discontinue another third-party vendor. Previously, everything was such a separate process. Now, payments go right into PM versus somebody logging into another system and later needing to post those to accounts. Being able to roll everything into one has been amazing.

Also, we used to pay for an outside service to assist us with MIPS. When we transitioned to ModMed, that need immediately went away. We now have the ability to follow along with MIPS, on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis, and track our performance. That’s been huge. I truly anticipate having a very successful MIPS filing, given the ease in the data that’s available to me.

YOU WON’T REGRET SWITCHING

We spent a lot of time investigating numerous systems and would never pull the trigger. It was the fear of changing and needing to learn something new. Looking back, now that we’ve been using ModMed, we definitely would kick ourselves for not doing this sooner. You won’t regret it on the other side, and you’ll be amazed at the increased efficiencies and time and money saved by using the all-in-one pain software.

If you ask our providers, and myself personally, time is the biggest benefit. You can’t necessarily put a dollar amount on time, but not having to go home with hours of work, or spend the weekends catching up, is priceless. From a business perspective, I have more time to interact with the staff and be supportive, while feeling less stressed. From a personal perspective, I have more time to relax and do things that make me happy, versus feeling like I’m part of the rat race. Switching to ModMed was the best decision, and we’ve never looked back.

The statements and conclusions contained herein reflect the opinions of Kim Palmer and not those of ModMed. ModMed makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy of any such information. Results may vary depending on medical practice size, product usage and other variables.