Doctor’s Urgent Care, based in Conroe, Texas, is a community-focused facility that aims to provide exceptional patient care to its local community. Sheila Reddy, Practice Manager at the clinic, recently opened up about her challenges with Athena’s EMR system and why the practice decided to switch back to Experity. She also shared how Experity’s implementation and operational visibility has set the clinic up for greater profitability.
Patient satisfaction is key to their success, and they understand the importance of having the right tools and support in place to achieve this. However, the clinic had become increasingly frustrated with empty promises made by Athena, and they were determined to find an EMR that met their unique needs.
The clinic had been with Experity several years prior but left due to cost. They switched over to Athena, whose reputation seemed to have all the bells and whistles necessary to suit their clinic’s needs. Unfortunately, this was not the solution they had hoped for, and that was made apparent from the moment of implementation.
Sheila noted that the implementation team didn’t really know how to address the nuances of their urgent care-specific questions. They would bounce around from department to department wasting valuable time, and revenue, trying to get answers. Worse, according to Reddy, Athena’s enhanced claims and billing is not what it claims to be.
“Our company has lost so much money over simple denials, and things we informed Athena to correct but would take them anywhere from 6-8 weeks to correct. There is no one you can pick up the phone with, it is always via email to set up a meeting to discuss a problem that is bounced between different departments until ultimately you have to step in to escalate it to your Customer ‘Success’ Manager.”
There simply wasn’t enough manpower to effectively resolve matters, which in turn, cost the clinic money and frustration. After struggling with a third-party biller and a corporate EMR that fell flat of their expectations, the clinic decided to partner back with Experity, adding on RCM services to improve claims management, optimize revenue and increase ROI
Reddy noted her reluctance to go back to Experity. She was worried it would be another large organization that fell flat on their promises. But then she remembered how the EMR was tailored to the urgent care setting and decided to take the risk. From the start, Reddy appreciated the immense patience and wealth of knowledge of the sales contact..
“His assurances put me at ease and his promises have been delivered. Implementation has been a breeze with Experity. The team is amazing! They are on top of it and extremely organized. The entire team explains everything and goes over everything. If I feel confused, when I ask a question, I receive a response in an extremely quick timeframe.”
The team was extremely organized, explaining everything and going over all the details with Reddy’s team. Whenever Reddy had a question or felt confused, Experity’s team provided a quick response. Reddy has been more than pleased with her experience with Experity’s implementation and client support so far.
Experity not only improved efficiency but also provided valuable insights into the clinic’s operations. One of the most significant benefits was the tracking board, which allowed the team to quickly see whether labs were done and where their orders were. This feature gave them a quick sense of where they were with a patient and saved a lot of time with outgoing labs, making it easier to audit.
Another challenge with Athena was that the company did not provide any insights for the clinic to be able to make more strategic decisions. She mentioned that Athena had a report builder, but unless you had an understanding of how databases work or have that basic knowledge, it’s hard to put together a report that makes sense, like visit volume. Experity’s proactive reporting proved incredibly beneficial, by providing monthly reports that give a good clinical snapshot of the company. The reports allow Reddy and her team to assess the important metrics they need to monitor to help them expand their business.
By prioritizing patient care and partnering with a reliable, tailored EMR, Doctor’s Urgent Care has been set up for success. She is pleased to be working with an urgent care software partner that delivers on its promises. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for this innovative urgent care facility.
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