December 2010
The Trace Times is the official newsletter of Trace by The White Stone Group, Inc. Trace tracks communication to protect hospital revenue, quality and performance. Click here to learn more.

December 2010 To view our online archive, click here.

Health First, Inc. Featured in HealthLeaders Magazine

Health First Featured in HealthLeaders Magazine

The October issue of HealthLeaders magazine featured an article on how Health First, Inc. in Florida used Trace to eliminate the he-said, she-said from its daily exchanges with payers. By using Trace to capture and centralize routine communication across its revenue cycle, Health First has overturned denials in excess of $2.5 million while reducing paper and rework from its processes. To read the article, click here.

Trace Welcomes its First Hospital in Massachusetts

Trace welcomes Lowell General Hospital, the first hospital in Massachusetts to implement Trace. Lowell General Hospital is an independent, not-for-profit, community hospital serving the Greater Lowell area and surrounding communities. The main hospital campus offers 217 licensed beds, including 28 bassinets and a Level IIB Special Care Nursery. The hospital’s satellite campus, Lowell General Chelmsford, offers a variety of outpatient services, including the Surgery Center, the Imaging Center, the Patient Service Center, the Center for Weight Management and Bariatric Surgery and Floating Hospital for Children’s Pediatric Specialty Center.

 

Trace Presented at AAHAM ANI

AAHAM ANI

Trace was recently presented as a best practice at an annual conference for AAHAM (American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management) held in Fort Lauderdale Oct. 13-15. Trace was included in a session on Lean methodology presented by Yvonne Chase, Manager of Patient Access and Business Services at Mayo Clinic Arizona. The session focused on using Lean processes to remove waste and inefficiency from work in Patient Access. Chase shared her team’s use of Trace to support Lean processes, resulting in the following outcomes:

  • Reduced denials by 13%
  • Increased POS collections by 12%
  • Streamlined referral process; improved  appointment scheduling time by 3 days
  • Boosted telecommuter productivity by 18%
  • Re-allocated FTE to front-end collections

More Ideas for Using Trace

This list shows some of the many ways Trace can be used across your organization. Click the links to view examples for each use.

New Features in Trace 2.0!

Recently upgraded to the new version of Trace? Check here for features included in each release! Below are new features from the October release:

  • Inbound Fax Tab – A new option for the fax tab is now available. This new option provides an alternative for managing inbound faxes and is specifically designed to reduce the time required to display and process faxes. To change the default fax tab, select “Set Up” and then the “Preferences” tab. Under Inbound Fax Settings, choose the “Side by Side” option and click “Update Preferences”.
  • Patient Name Quick Search – The patient name quick search now accepts the patient’s full name. To search by a full name, enter the last name followed by a comma and then the patient’s first name.
  • Search Results > Payer – The name of the payer has been added as an optional column in the Tracker tab search results. This column can be added to your search results under “Set Up” and the “Search Fields” tab.
  • Usage Report – A new column has been added to the Trace usage report to display totals per user.

To learn more about upgrading at your facility to Trace 2.0, click here.

Trace 2.0 Users - Tell Us!

We want to hear from you! To give us your thoughts about the new version of Trace, use the “Tell Us” link at the upper right hand side of the Tracker screen. In PixCert and PC Call, you can find this link under Help > Tell Us! For each release, we’ll do a drawing for those who provided feedback that resulted in a new feature, change or correction in Trace 2.0.

Thanks to the following users for providing feedback that we included in the October release:

  • Kathy N., Norman Regional
  • Jeryl K., Southeast Missouri
  • Carrie L., Touro Infirmary

Congratulations to Carrie L. from Touro Infirmary who won this month’s drawing. She received a $25 gift card from Trace.

Tips & Tricks for Trace 2.0

Customize your search results display.
Are you scrolling to the far right in your search results to see a custom field and want to move it to the left? No problem. You can determine the order of the columns that display in your search results. Go to Setup > Search Fields, and simply drag the columns into the order you want them to display for each record type (PixCert, FaxCert, or Voice Records). Then save your custom view.

Filter your inbound fax list for faster navigation & performance.
Is the inbox in your Fax Tab filled with so many faxes that it’s slow to navigate and get what you need? Filters may be able to help. To set a quick filter, click on the filter icon just above your fax list on the left. There are several options from which to choose. If you are just looking for recent faxes, try filtering by Today’s Faxes to reduce the list. If you are looking for a fax from a particular sender, try filtering by sender. (If any of the faxes in your list have been sent, they will show under this filter option). Filters can be great time-savers. If you want to know how to create custom filters and save them as profiles, we can show you how in just a few minutes. Just contact your Trace Account Manager, or contact us at implementation@twsg.com.

 
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