18 staff members
36,850 patients in 2017
2012
Determined to provide patients with a convenient, high-quality, and affordable alternative to the traditional ER, Dr. Brian Bearie founded Yucaipa Urgent Care in 2012, offering comprehensive medical care to the community of Yucaipa, California. Since opening eighteen years ago, Yucaipa Urgent Care has expanded from operating two hospital-owned facilities to full ownership of six clinics, not only in Yucaipa, but also in Moreno Valley, Redlands, and Norco, just outside San Bernardino.
In the same spirit with which it was founded, Yucaipa and its staff of medical professionals still provide their patients the best healthcare available at an affordable price supported by top-tier health technologies. They treat patients for minor medical emergencies from illness to injury. On any given day, they may see patients with the flu, rashes, broken bones, sprains, and other aches and pains. They also provide physicals, vaccines, on-site X-rays, lab services, and drug screens. Occupational medicine and workers’ compensation services are also available to serve the business community with pre-employment testing and on-the-job-injury care.
Dr. Bearie recognized that 80 percent of what was done in emergency departments could be done more efficiently, affordably, and with an overall more positive patient experience in an urgent care setting. He knew with the right staff and the right resources, he could do it better. But first, he needed an electronic medical records company focused on urgent care and the efficiency required to make it work. His experience using EMR solutions built for larger health systems had demonstrated that one size does not fit all. He knew the wrong EMR could result in time-consuming delays and a lower level of patient satisfaction.
Convenient care was a growing priority, and the on-demand healthcare space was expanding to accommodate the shift and meet the needs of this new breed of patients who wanted control over their time and their care decisions. These factors spurred Yucaipa to look for a software solution that could scale along with the company and provide urgent care-tailored solutions for their staff and providers.
To maintain a competitive edge in the market and to best serve the needs of the patient, Yucaipa needed a purpose-built platform designed to serve the specific needs of on-demand healthcare. It needed to be customizable, intuitive for staff, and enable the clinic to create a better experience for their patients. Aware that the specific needs and unique challenges in on-demand care would go underserved and unresolved with a one-size-fits-all platform, Yucaipa Urgent Care looked to implement industry-leading solutions that would enable seamless operations and efficient healthcare delivery.
After considering NextGen, Allscripts, and Practice Velocity, Yucaipa implemented DocuTAP at its first clinic in 2012 due in large part to the preferred open-concept and interface. For end-to-end operational excellence, this included DocuTAP’s EMR, Practice Management (PM), analytics and reporting functionality, and consulting and Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) services. One of the top reasons for their choice included the intuitive interface of DocuTAP, making it incredibly easy for staff to learn.
Since the initial location opened, Yucaipa has continued using DocuTAP as the software and services provider for an additional five urgent care locations. Some things have changed for Yucaipa. They switched from using a third-party billing service to in-house billing and implemented Clockwise.MD in 2013 to better engage their patients.
Switching from paper charting to DocuTAP’s EMR has significantly simplified Yucaipa’s entire workflow. Rather than having to step away from appointments to bring up a patient’s medical record or put in overtime to finish charts, physicians are able to add encounter notes in patients’ charts and complete them in real-time during a visit.
The combination of implementing DocuTAP’s EMR in addition to Clockwise.MD has significantly improved efficiency and workflow for patients/staff and decreased patient throughput time to half. Yucaipa currently receives feedback from both patients and staff daily that their entire process is very smooth and exceeds expectations. Specifically, over 50 percent of patients have acknowledged that appointments have improved now that physicians chart using DocuTAP’s EMR on an iPad.
“Patients are always impressed when their charts are completed by physicians as they sit in the room together,” said Dr. Bearie. “The patient is seen, the prescription is sent, post-appointment instructions are waiting at the front desk, and they are all set to go. The ease of Yucaipa’s complete medical process and package has become a regular comment we receive from patients.”
Because the Yucaipa staff frequently works at both the independently owned sites that use DocuTAP and the hospital-associated sites that do not, they can easily compare their experience using different platforms. And according to Dr. Bearie, the staff has made it clear DocuTAP is much more intuitive and efficient at facilitating their daily clinical duties and patient visits.
Dr. Bearie commented on the stark differences. “Staff sees it as a punishment when they are assigned to work at the hospital-associated locations that don’t use DocuTAP. It was surprising when we realized that what we could get done in two hours using DocuTAP would take a full day at those other locations.”
The implementation of Clockwise.MD by DocuTAP has made a huge impact on patient throughput times at Yucaipa. Using this patient engagement software, their door-to-door time is less than an hour from check-in to check-out, with consistency and reliability.
Yucaipa and its staff believe in engaging patients throughout the entire patient journey, and with Clockwise, they are able to do this before appointments with online scheduling and alerts. In addition to face-to-face interaction during the appointment, check-in is quick and super efficient with iPad kiosks. And after the visit, staff can follow up with patients using Clockwise survey options to follow up and measure patient satisfaction.
The result of offering a consistently high level of service and engagement builds trust between Yucaipa Urgent Care and its patients—new and returning. And waiting rooms are comfortably less full than they used to be due to a more efficient process.
“The patient engagement solution by Clockwise.MD is what we are most complimented on by patients and continues to be cited as the largest improvement in on-demand care,” said Dr. Bearie. “New patients see we have these state-of-the-art solutions and the appointment queue in our waiting room. Clockwise.MD takes the guesswork out of the healthcare experience, and that has always been a huge pain point for patients.”
Clockwise.MD has provided a new level of transparency for the clinic staff at Yucaipa as well. Staff used to withhold wait times from the patient for fear of being unable to meet those projections. Now, wait times are no longer a contentious topic. By displaying real wait times on a screen in the lobby, the clinic has built an environment of transparency and honestly that patients appreciate. Now, patients don’t have to wait around, but can leave and come back when it’s time for their appointment. This convenience is one of the big factors that differentiates Yucaipa from competitors.
From a physician’s perspective, patients are seen at a much faster rate which increases the number of patients seen per day. “We used to average about two hours throughput time, and now we’re down to about 30 to 45 minutes with DocuTAP,” said Dr. Bearie.
Bringing billing in-house with DocuTAP RCM Services is one of the biggest changes Yucaipa has made during its partnership with DocuTAP. Using DocuTAP’s billing software has greatly improved the billing team’s efficiency. Yucaipa used to deliver a patient’s invoice months after their appointment. With the new process, billing is typically completed the day after an appointment.
“Our billing team sees two different worlds between using DocuTAP’s billing software and our hospital-focused billing platform at our other locations,” said Dr. Bearie. “What they could usually do in two hours is cut in half or less, so it’s easy to see the speed and efficiency of DocuTAP.”
Yucaipa Urgent Care has had a long, storied history in the San Bernardino, California area, offering top quality medical services and compassionate care to local residents for six years. To maintain this level of service, it was critical to have a partner like DocuTAP that was able to provide the services needed to excel in the market. With DocuTAP, Yucaipa Urgent Care has consistently been a much quicker, convenient, and cost-effective alternative to the emergency room, in perfect alignment to Dr. Bearie’s initial vision.
“When we first talked with DocuTAP, they were the only company that said they were for urgent cares and that’s still what sets them apart from the rest,” said Dr. Bearie. “There are niches in every medical specialty, and one size simply does not fit all when it comes to EMRs and other technology and services we need. DocuTAP understands that, and because of that, it makes our jobs so much easier.”