Netsmart Technology Boosts Census and Bottom Line with Electronic Referral Management

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Cantex Continuing Care Network (Cantex) and Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries (Diakon), together with Netsmart, have announced the successful launch of an industry breakthrough solution, Netsmart Referral Manager. This first-of-a-kind solution has increased the number of processed referrals, driven operation efficiencies and established a competitive edge for Cantex and Diakon among other senior living providers in a value-based care landscape.

Referral processes that fail to utilize automation and technology can be tedious and time-consuming, resulting in inefficiencies and even medical errors. In addition to accepting electronic referrals, the Netsmart Referral Manager solution automates the referral process, eliminating the need for phone calls, faxes and manual data entry. A recent report by Porter Research stated that 60% of referring providers said they would switch to a new post-acute care provider if that organization were able to accept electronic referrals.

Cantex and Diakon implemented Referral Manager throughout their entire network of provider facilities. Results have shown that qualified referrals increased, while the time required to process those referrals decreased by 73%.

Diakon has been using the web-based solution in the community to give staff access to essential information that enables them to process referrals from anywhere, in real-time, on the Referral Manager shared platform. This approach enabled Diakon to maintain a 95% occupancy rate compared to the industry average of 82% and grew their census significantly.

“We have been able to remove a lot of the cumbersome documentation which has allowed us to become more seamless with our work,” said Deanna Ziemba, Diakon senior vice president. “The visibility and ease of documenting and viewing are pain-free for our staff. Referral Manager is so user-friendly, intuitive and provides a view of the status of the referral at any given moment. We can breeze through forms and notes, whittling down our referral process. Considering that kind of time savings combined with the ability to look and dig into referrals with enhanced visibility and insight – the impact it has made on our referral operations is substantial!”

Referral Manager can be used as a standalone solution or can be integrated into any existing EHR such as Netsmart myUnity. Referral Manager drives growth by combining various referral networks into a single solution and delivering a big-picture view into a patient’s journey between care settings. Electronic sharing of data cuts referral time in half. It offers instant, meaningful results in a clinically driven view, allowing providers to make fully informed acceptance or denial decisions and includes electronic referral receipt acknowledgment. Additionally, Netsmart is once again leading the industry as the first community-based provider to demonstrate how the new 360X standards support the automation of closed-loop referrals, helping to streamline the ways primary care providers (PCPs) are informed and how they can track consumers as they see specialists outside of a primary care setting.

“As providers focus on managing their patients through the various venues of care, they are exposing the need for capabilities that are not traditionally part of electronic health records – things like sophisticated automation and rules to manage their referral processes, CRM-like capabilities that track the long view of patients, and consumer and family engagement tools to foster communication between caregivers and the people they serve,” said Netsmart CEO Mike Valentine. “We are excited to work with pioneers like Cantex and Diakon to create new solutions to fill these voids. Being able to leverage our interoperability network that now facilitates over 13 million interactions every month serves as a solid foundation to build advanced capabilities into a highly labor-intensive process like what managing referrals is today for most community-based providers. Referral Manager is one of many applications we are working on with our clients to help them better manage their patient populations and meet the increasing needs of value-based care models.”

Organizations who can quickly receive and process patient referrals have the ability to build a consistent and strong census with the desired resident mix to help them reach their operational and financial goals. Referral Manager helps providers remain competitive and overcome the administrative and communication burdens that accompany a manual approach to referrals.

“Building relationships and demonstrating value are vital in today’s integrated care environment, and Referral Manager allows us to achieve success in both,” said Cantex CEO Robin Underhill. “Having instant access to essential referral and intake information allows us to expedite processes which help to increase credibility with our acute care partners, patients and family members. It’s a win for everyone involved.”

About Cantex Continuing Care Network

Cantex Continuing Care Network was formed in 1978. Today, with 41 successful years of business behind us, we operate 35 nursing facilities with a total of 4,158 licensed beds. Our nursing facilities are located in Texas and New Mexico, are certified under the federal Medicare program and participate in the state’s Medicaid program. Rehabilitation is provided to Cantex patients by our in-house therapy division; we also own and operate two pharmacies that provide medication services to our facilities. Our post-acute network is fully integrated and promotes a seamless experience for our patients in those markets serviced by our home and community-based services division including TheraCare Home Health and Elysian Hospice.

Cantex recognizes that providing great care to over 3700+ patients every day through a like number of employees can only be achieved through a commitment to excellence. Through efficient delivery of high-quality services provided within an attractive, modern and safe living environment, we aim to be the provider of choice in every community we serve. By creating a rewarding workplace, we aim to attract a committed and talented workforce. In fully satisfying our patients and their families, we aim to provide a strong financial return for our investors.

About Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries

Through Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries and Diakon Child, Family & Community Ministries, we offer a continuum of senior lifestyle and health-care services, including Continuing Care Retirement Communities, and a range of programs for children, youths, families, adult individuals of all ages and entire communities in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Annually, Diakon’s programs directly serve between 60,000 and 70,000 people.

Its name meaning “one assigned by the church to minister to the needs of others,” Diakon was formed by the Jan. 1, 2000, affiliation—and later merger—of Tressler Lutheran Services of Mechanicsburg, Pa., and Lutheran Services Northeast—itself an affiliation between The Lutheran Home at Topton, Pa., and LWS of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Hazleton. With its deepest roots originating in 1868, Diakon’s history includes the legacy of service of such additional organizations as Lutheran Social Services of Maryland, Baltimore.

Working in nearly 30 service centers and senior living and housing communities, approximately 2,000 Diakon staff members daily bring hope, hospitality, and healing to thousands of people, reaching out, as part of Lutheran Services in America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, to serve those in need.

About Netsmart

Netsmart designs, builds and delivers electronic health records (EHRs), health information exchanges (HIEs), analytics and telehealth solutions and services that are powerful, intuitive and easy-to-use. Our platform provides accurate, up-to-date information that is easily accessible to care team members in behavioral health, care at home, senior living and social services. We make the complex simple and personalized so our clients can concentrate on what they do best: provide services and treatment that support whole-person care.

By leveraging the powerful Netsmart network, care providers can seamlessly and securely integrate information across communities, collaborate on the most effective treatments and improve outcomes for those in their care. Our streamlined systems and personalized workflows put relevant information at the fingertips of users when and where they need it.

For 50 years, Netsmart has been committed to providing a common platform to integrate care. SIMPLE. PERSONAL. POWERFUL.

Our more than 1,700 associates work hand-in-hand with our 600,000+ users in more than 25,000 organizations across the U.S. to develop and deploy technology that automates and coordinates everything from clinical to financial to administrative.

Learn more about how Netsmart is changing the face of healthcare today. Visit www.ntst.com, call 1-800-472-5509, follow us on our CareThreads Blog, LinkedIn and Twitter, like us on Facebook or visit us on YouTube.

Netsmart is pleased to support the EveryDayMatters® Foundation, which was established for behavioral health, care at home, senior living and social services organizations to learn from each other and share their causes and stories.

Contacts

Netsmart Media Contact:

Vince Koehler

vkoehler@ntst.com

913.272.2235