Compass and the Private Office

Compass and the Private Office
From Dan Gross, CFO
February 2010

As you have hopefully heard by now, Compass is an initiative to streamline the hospital scheduling and registration experience for patients across all of Partners. At Newton-Wellesley, the first hospital to implement the new system, Compass will replace the Meditech modules currently used for scheduling, registration, billing and some medical records functions with a Soarian product. Please note that Meditech Clinicals will not change.

As with any new system some things will change. When the new system is implemented, on February 27, 2010, private offices will not have direct access to schedule outpatient appointments such as ultrasounds, CTs, cardiology exams and other ancillary services. Instead you will need to call Central Scheduling. We understand that this is a change from the current model for some practices, and has the potential to inconvenience private practice operations, which is the very last thing we want to do.

What has driven this process change is our assessment that in its current state, the system does not ensure data integrity or ease of use, and we need to more tightly control access. For example, because the first step in the new scheduling process will be to create or assign a medical record, there are significant concerns about creating duplicate medical records and the resulting risk to patients.

This topic had very robust discussion and it was not an easy decision to “take a step back” on this functionality. However, through studies we did of current use, we found that although many practices have access to self-scheduling very few actually use it on a consistent basis.

In an effort to ensure as smooth a transition as possible, Central Scheduling has added six additional Customer Service Reps to ensure timely response to requests. (In January 71.4% of calls to Central Scheduling were answered in less than 20 seconds) Additionally Central Scheduling will evaluate expanding their hours of operation based on demand. We have installed a fax server so that we can efficiently accept faxed requests 24hrs/day at 617-243-6776 (Urgent/emergent appointments should be handled as they are today by contacting the department directly) Lastly, Mary Murray and her team have been working directly with practice staff to see what special operations can be put in place to address specific circumstances.

With Compass your patients’ experiences registering for hospital-based services will improve. They will be asked fewer questions and the overall process will be smoother and easier.

Some benefits from Compass:

• Your patients’ experiences registering for hospital-based services will improve with this system. The process will be much smoother and easier for your patients.
• Registrars will be able to see the last time updates were made to registration information, meaning we will not need to ask patients to repeat information they have recently given.
• Fewer delays at the point of service.
• Fewer appointments needing to be rebooked.
• This project can be a stepping-stone to an enhanced clinical system.
• Compass will enable the hospital and the medical staff to better adapt to any global payment initiatives resulting from healthcare reform efforts.

• There will be no remote printing of scheduling letters; Central Scheduling will be able to print and fax them to you.
• Once the new system is launched, you will also need the guarantor and the subscriber (policy holder) when scheduling.
• All patients will need a unit number (medical record number) before any booking can take place. Patients will be assigned a number while you are the phone with Central Scheduling.
• For Dictating/e-Scription, you will need a 10-digit patient account number (called the ECD in Soarian). This was previously a 9-digit number. This number will be found in the same places as today’s “account number” including on the face sheet, blue card stamp and on the medical record form.
• There will no longer be view access to the schedule
• The schedule will no longer be able to be frozen and thawed. Central Scheduling will be available to help you with your offices needs.

• Central Scheduling phone number (617-243-6800)
• Central Scheduling fax number (617-243-6776)
• OR Booking Line (617-243-6277)
• Mammography Scheduling Line (617-243-5345)
• Before Compass goes live, all of your patient’s medical record numbers in the Master Patient Index (MPI) will be transferred from Meditech and will remain the same.
• No change to Meditech Clinicals
• No change to MOX
• No change to patient’s wristband
• No change to getting results in PCI
• O.R. & G. I. procedures can still be scheduled directly through PCIS but a Medical Record number will be required.

• Dan Gross, Chief Financial Officer at ext. 6381
• Mary Murray, Director, Patient Access Services at ext. 6024
• Michelle Guarnieri, Manager, Central Scheduling at ext. 6022
• Alice Erharhine-Aziza, Manager, Patient Access at ext. 6556