Client Case Studies
MediServe Client Impact Case Study - Respiratory Care
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (San Jose, CA) is a not for profit, county hospital located in San Jose, California and is affiliated with the Stanford School of Medicine. SCVMC is licensed for 754 beds and includes seven adult ICUs, including the regional burn center, a Level 1 trauma center, PICU, NICU, and a spinal cord injury center.
SCVMC began looking at possible computer documentation projects in 2002. The goal was to be completely paperless, using automatic billing on chart entry, calculating staffing levels based on orders, managing orders, and increasing department charge capture.
Prior to the MediLinks implementation, the Respiratory Care Department used manual documentation and performed charge entry into the Siemens Invision billing system. The staffi ng levels were determined by an Excel spreadsheet with a manual count called in by therapists and order notifi cations were performed by nurses or unit secretaries.
In late 2003, the SCVMC respiratory care, rehabilitation services, nursing, and information systems departments combined eff orts and developed the R2 Multi-disciplinary Team. Each department was looking at a computer documentation system and collectively decided to combine eff orts and budgets. The Information Systems Department became involved in order to make sure the solution would be properly implemented in the hospital.
SCVMC went live with MediLinks for the Respiratory Care Department in January 2005. The MediLinks solution is run off of laptops mounted on mobile carts. A wireless networked solution is not used at this time, but MediLinks enables point of care documentation in each patient care area via synchronization every two hours through the use of "hot jacks" installed in each patient care area.
MediLinks has connectivity to Siemens Invision via HL7 interfacing for ADT inbound, billing outbound, and charting results inbound/outbound. SCVMC plans to implement lab and ventilator interfaces at a later date.
A 100% return on investment, including the full cost of software, hardware, and services, was achieved after using MediLinks for 17 months. This is attributed to an increase in revenue from additional monthly charge capture.
Consistent with its initial planning vision, SCVMC went live with MediLinks for rehabilitation services in May 2005.
Financial Impact
- 20% increase in charge capture
- Increased charges by $200,000 per month
- Better accuracy on FTE requirement per shift
Clinical Impact
- 20% reduction in documentation errors
- Decreased the number of missed documentation sessions
- Improved documentation completeness and legibility
- Ability to run multiple key reports for administrative purposes
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