Shepherd Center is a private, not-for-profit hospital specializing in medical treatment, research and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, spine and chronic pain, and other neuromuscular conditions located in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1975, Shepherd Center is ranked by U.S. News & World Report among the top 10 rehabilitation hospitals in the nation.
In its more than four decades, Shepherd Center has grown from a six-bed rehabilitation unit to a world-re-nowned, 152-bed hospital that treats more than 900 inpatients, 540-day program patients and more than 7,300 outpatients each year. Patients travel from across the nation – and even the globe – to Shepherd Center for its innovative brand of neurorehabilitation.
“JTS Health Partners came highly recommended and after a site visit, we were convinced their client-focused approach, their deep revenue cycle expertise and experience working with Soarian supported with some proprietary tools would be a great fit for Shepherd Center. JTS’s interaction with my team was professional and very organized from the very start. They were able to integrate themselves and adapt to our processes with ease. Their performance from start to finish was first-rate.”
Ms. Pat Alford
Director, Revenue Cycle
The Challenge
The Shepherd Center leadership launched a strategy to implement Epic and migrate from the Cerner Soarian Financial System to achieve specific operational, clinical, and financial objectives including interoperability with neighboring Piedmont Atlanta Hospital. Because continuity in accounts receivable (A/R) management throughout the migration timeline was mission critical to the organization, Pat Alford, Shepherd Center’s Director of Revenue Cycle, searched for an A/R solution partner that would allow her team to focus on the building, testing, and training on Epic and at the same time take care of the day-to-day business of collecting Shepherd Center’s revenue.
JTS Health Partners (JTS) offered a wide range of Revenue Cycle Management Services including an Extended Business Office Solution that, after a visit to the Atlanta office, Pat and her team were convinced would be a great fit. Shepherd Center’s unique position of taking care of the very critically ill and injured with specialized plans creates some very interesting and complex billing scenarios. Shepherd Center needed someone with extensive follow up experience, deep knowledge of the Revenue Cycle, and comprehensive Soarian experience.
The Collaborative Approach
With the combined efforts of Shepherd Center’s staff, the JTS staff, and proprietary JTS analytics coupled with a deep understanding of Cerner Soarian Financials, JTS brought in the resources and tools needed to plan and execute a transition plan. JTS took over the day to day work on the accounts receivable in Cerner Soarian and performed follow-up and account resolution allowing Shepherd Center’s staff to focus on Epic.
The Accomplishments
JTS systematically worked the accounts achieving expected payment from payers and not allowing any accounts to time out inappropriately due to untimely filing. The JTS team averaged $1,379,659 in cash collections per month with a cumulative total of $15,176,249. The JTS quality assurance team achieved 100% account reviews as well as recorded a cumulative 99 % quality control success rate over the eleven (11) month engagement.
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