1. Case Study
Cheyenne Women’s Clinic
At a Glance
Opens Doors As a Paperless Practice
Organization
and Thrives
Cheyenne Women’s Clinic Answers
When Cheyenne Women’s Clinic
Cheyenne, Wyo.
opened its doors, all systems were While visiting an office with the
– Six-provider OB-GYN practice go. The new practice had already Practice Partner integrated EHR
– More than 8,500 active patients implemented the Practice Partner® and practice management system,
system of integrated electronic the physicians were struck by the
health record (EHR) and practice solution’s intuitive look and feel.
Solution Spotlight management applications from “Rene immediately felt comfortable
– Practice Partner® Appointment McKesson. With this solution in with Practice Partner,” recalls
Scheduler place, Cheyenne began operations Dr. Storey. “She was delighted that
with efficiencies that most a computer program could look like
– Practice Partner® Medical Billing
OB-GYN practices lack: a paperless a chart. I could see that it would be
– Practice Partner® Patient Records environment, seamless access to easy to make it work for the needs
patient records both on-site and of our practice.”
remotely, and optimal patient
Critical Issues
flow and revenue cycle processes. To prepare for the grand opening,
– Launching a new practice As a result, Cheyenne was able Dr. Storey and McKesson’s team
– Effectively managing patient to realize lower than average began a rapid implementation.
care and financial priorities overhead and revenue growth Dr. Storey functioned as the internal
averaging more than 20% superuser, working with McKesson
– Establishing a solid foundation
per year. staff to configure the software.
for growth
Challenges Cheyenne’s business plan called for
Results When Jeff Storey, M.D., and a ramp up to a full schedule over
– Revenue growth averaging Rene Hinkle, M.D., launched their about six to nine months; however,
more than 20% per year practice, they knew they wanted the practice underestimated the
an EHR system. “The writing was demand for services. Within 30 days
– Highly efficient operation after the launch, physicians had
on the wall that an EHR would
with overhead running at full schedules and added more than
ultimately be a requirement for
approximately 30% of revenue 150 new patients a week. Since
practices,” explains Dr. Storey.
(compared with 40% to 50% many of these patients were from
“We could both see that it offered
for the typical OB-GYN office) existing practices, they brought
huge advantages for an obstetrics
– Improved cash flow and A/R practice in terms of access to with them their paper charts.
(average collection time is patient charts. Neither one of us
less than two weeks) wanted the hassle of going to the Using Practice Partner, Cheyenne
office in the middle of the night established a streamlined process
to retrieve patient information for the rapid influx of patients.
like we had to at our previous During the initial visit with the
practice.” patient, nurses and medical

2. Case Study
“We started our own practice assistants would enter the patient’s Results
history into the EHR. On the two Cheyenne’s rapid and efficient
because we wanted to try days that doctors were in surgery, growth allowed it to quickly pay off
new ideas and new ways of the staff would scan and index its startup loan within five months
information from the paper chart of opening its doors.
doing things. Practice Partner into Practice Partner.
software has been central to Careful fine-tuning of the practice’s
Cheyenne also streamlined its internal processes provided a solid
helping us realize this goal.” billing processes. Paper superbills foundation for expansion: Four
were replaced by the electronic providers have been added in the
encounter form in Practice Partner® past 18 months, and the practice
Medical Billing. is expected to increase the number
Jeff Storey, M.D.
of monthly baby deliveries from
Cheyenne Women’s Clinic The E&M coding wizard in Practice 30 to 50.
Partner® Patient Records helps
the doctors accurately code visits Cheyenne’s financials are impressive.
without guesswork. Storey is Annual revenue is increasing at
very impressed by the accuracy more than 20% per year, while
of the coding wizard: “We have overhead is unusually low at
certified coders checking all charges roughly 36% (compared to 45% to
against our documentation, and 55% overhead of a typical OB-GYN
they rarely change the code practice). Part of the reason for the low
Practice Partner assigns.” overhead is that Practice Partner
eliminates the need for specialized
With a secure remote connection medical record personnel.
to the server at Cheyenne, the
physicians can access patient records Cheyenne uses Practice Partner
at home or the hospital. Because of to affect costs in other ways too.
the solution’s integrated fax server The Practice Partner practice
capability, they can electronically fax management solution combined
documents directly from Practice with strong billing service has
Partner. This feature has proven shrunk collection times from
useful when the doctors need a 45 days to less than two weeks.
copy of the patient’s history and
physical exam to prepare to deliver “We started our own practice
a baby or perform a surgery. because we wanted to try new ideas
and new ways of doing things,”
concludes Dr. Storey. “Practice
Partner has been central to helping
us realize this goal.”
McKesson Provider Technologies
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