January 2018

Thoughts from Our President

I want to wish each of you a healthy new year. Here are some thoughts on our industry, looking back over the past few years and what 2018 may bring:

• Some years ago we predicted the hospital EHR market would come down to three vendors: MEDITECH, Epic and Cerner. This trend continues as the few remaining older vendors struggle to hold onto clients and the start-ups struggle with the complexity of acute care and integrated EHRs and related healthcare delivery systems. Notably, MEDITECH experienced its strongest year for new sales since the end of the Meaningful Use period
• The focus on integrated EHRs, inclusive of Acute, Ambulatory, Long-Term Care and Behavioral Health, continues to evolve and will lead to the continued decline of niche software vendors, much the way stand-alone systems for emergency departments and surgery have been replaced by most hospitals with the product from their core vendor (again, a trend we anticipated years ago)
• Population Health has had its share of stories and articles over the past few years. However, the challenges faced by many ACOs and the slowing of the changes to healthcare payment systems should cause some organizations to pause in making large investments in IT projects. While there have been examples of population health information systems initiatives having specific results, the large, expensive projects have not led to the anticipated health improvements or financial benefits. The key questions are around developing a focus on what the specific goals are and a willingness to realign operational processes to effect the desired changes. Simply put, information technology by itself is not the answer as the past few years have proven. Not to say data and analytics aren’t needed or important, but information is supportive of an overall process, not the solution on its own
• With Meaningful Use and CPOE behind us, the focus on EHR decision making will be around financial management of increasingly complex billing and revenue requirements and a balance between investment costs and measurable financial returns. While organizations could justify expensive EHR investments when ARRA funds were covering the costs, this is in the past and financial prudence will be re-emerging as those large investments have had negative impacts on many hospitals

Thank you for following us in this newsletter and we hope the information and insights we share provide value. As always, we welcome your feedback and suggestions. May 2018 be a good year for each of you.

John Haffty, President
Navin, Haffty & Associates

MEDITECH Year in Review and a Few Thoughts on the Future

In 2017, MEDITECH delivered on major initiatives that have been in the works for some time and has turned its vision of a web-based EHR into reality.

Here are our observations on the past year:

• Ambulatory has gone mainstream. In 2016 and early 2017, the first sites went through some of the pains associated with a new product, but as the year evolved, we saw routine and stable implementations for Web Ambulatory. By the end of 2017, there are almost 3,000 physicians using Web Ambulatory with another 2,700+ that are being implemented or scheduled to begin implementation. The recent KLAS special report on this product reinforced our perception that this product is delivering on the promise of improving physician productivity and satisfaction.
• Web Acute went LIVE at the early adopter sites with great success. 6.16 represents another major undertaking for MEDITECH in delivering a complete web experience for physicians. At year end, 11 hospitals, representing four different organizations, successfully went LIVE in 2017 and this is now MEDITECH’s standard product for all new deliveries. Further, there are 126 hospitals, representing 58 organizations, that have either begun the implementation process or have contracted for it, bringing the total numbers for 6.16 Web Acute to 137 hospitals (62 organizations).
• Web ED is LIVE at eight hospitals, representing four organizations. The difference in numbers between Web Acute and Web ED is that not every hospital has an emergency department. At the MEDITECH Physician/CIO Forum in October, the first early adopter provided a strong testimonial to the efficiencies realized with Web ED. There are 108 additional hospitals in process, bringing the year-end total of Web ED sites either LIVE or in process to 116.
• 6.16 Web Acute and Web ED are proving very popular and MEDITECH is working on plans to upgrade existing 6.1 sites to this version. We expect MEDITECH will roll out this upgrade to several early adopters in 2018 with general release planned for 2019.
• Business and Clinical Analytics (BCA) is now LIVE at more than 30 sites. Like Ambulatory, this has gone from early adopter status to general release. Expect to see demonstrations of the power of BCA at 2018 events such as HIMSS, MEDITECH’s Physician/CIO Forum and MUSE International.
• These successes have resulted in strong sales for MEDITECH. As of the end of September, MEDITECH has signed 47 new hospitals and 45 migrations from existing clients for 6.1.
• This fall MEDITECH introduced MEDITECH as a Solution (MaaS), a cloud-based EHR. While initially targeted for critical access hospitals, we expect this will be available to other small hospitals in the near future.
• MEDITECH hospitals continue to outperform those using other vendor EHRs as uncovered in our updated study on Quality and Value Measures. Further, our study on profitability and EHRs shows measurable financial performance differences favoring MEDITECH 6.1 over other major EHR vendors. These studies are well documented and exceed academic statistical analysis standards for reliability and validity, something few studies from other vendors can state.
• For more information, click here to view MEDITECH’s press release, “2017 Brings Strong Momentum and Growth for MEDITECH.”

While far from a complete review, we look at 2017 as the year when MEDITECH delivered on promises. Expect to see a strong reaction from the market in 2018.

Planning for HIMSS – MEDITECH Demonstrations

HIMSS will present a great opportunity to see some of MEDITECH’s newest solutions. They are currently scheduling sign-ups for demonstrations of the following:

• Population Health: Supporting the Challenges of Today and the Opportunities of Tomorrow
• Predictive and Preventive Strategies for Sepsis Survival
• Coordination in Control: Mastering the Physician Mindset
• Every Claim Has a Story
• Consumer Solutions for a Positive, Healthier Patient Experience

Sign up now to get your preferred timeslot.

Navin, Haffty & Associates (NHA) will have a strong presence at HIMSS. If you are interested in meeting with one of our executives, contact David LaFontiane at dlafontaine@navinhaffty.com.

Client Testimonial and KLAS Comments

Here is a recent testimonial from one of our clients:

“NHA was instrumental in making sure we met our go-LIVE date. Not only did we meet the deadline, we met a two-month accelerated deadline and we met it despite many obstacles and extremely challenging and unexpected circumstances along the way. It is a true testament to NHA’s dedication, determination and perseverance. A special thanks to our consultants who provided much needed expertise for their respective applications and to our project manager, who was brought in during the early stages of this project, in a situation that was totally unexpected. He provided excellent organizational and project management skills to help guide us through this massive project. I know we wouldn’t be where we are today without their support.”

Eric Gasser, Director, Information Systems
Wooster Community Hospital

We want to thank our clients who participated in KLAS surveys this past year. We are grateful for your positive feedback to KLAS once again. Our rankings at the end of December represent a remarkable consistency of which we are very proud. We ended 2017 rated among the top vendors in the entire industry in every category where we provide services. This is impressive given that KLAS evaluates more than 100 consulting service providers. We also want to thank those clients who gave us such great reviews, resulting in NHA being the highest rated consulting company in KLAS’ recent special study on MEDITECH Web Ambulatory. Click here for more information on this recognition.

Our year end ranking by category:

Category                                                                           Ranking
HIT Enterprise Implementation Leadership                    5^th
HIT Implementation Support and Staffing                       7^th
IT Advisory                                                                            12^th
Technical Services                                                                5^th

Recent KLAS Comments

“Working with Navin Haffty has been very good. They have a very competent crew here. They have really helped us navigate the waters with our implementation. They are very good at helping us facilitate getting the resources that we need from the vendor. So far, everything has been pretty good.” – CFO

“Our software vendor did not suggest using Navin Haffty for our implementation. They stay out of that discussion selection. Our decision was based on the experience of the people that they were going to put here. We were looking for people who had done ambulatory implementations before and who were experienced and knowledgeable about the process. Another company we were considering was still relatively new in that aspect, and they didn’t have the people available that we thought would get the job done here. We had a good experience with that company, but they just didn’t have the depth of experience that Navin Haffty’s people had.” – CFO

“The Navin Haffty consultants have expertise in certain skill sets. I checked whether Navin Haffty had individuals to help support our upgrade, and they had several for us to choose from. The consultants flushed out more information than we had initially requested. That helped us better understand what we needed to address.” – Director

“I guess the biggest impact on our facility was on the clinical workflow. In one engagement, Navin Haffty brought in the key constant and helped us implement the project.” – Director

Quick Notes

• 6.16 Universal Discharge Plan is now available. Check out MEDITECH’s resources for those looking to implement the new Universal Discharge Plan in 6.16, which introduces a significant redesign and effectively replaces the Discharge and Departure routines currently in use in PCS, PCM, EDM, SUR, ONC and CMG. In addition, the new Discharge Plan functions cohesively with the Web Acute/ED discharge features.
• MEDITECH has added e-Learning classes:
  • Report Writer (6.x, C/S and MG) and Report Designer (6.x) Workshops – These seminars are now available as e-Learning, providing the opportunity to learn and experience the tool on your own time, at your own location. The content is the same across all platforms, but for MAGIC customers screenshots and keystrokes will be slightly different. Go to: Report Writer (6.x, C/S, & MG) & Report Designer (6.x) Workshops
  • Data Mapping and Scheduling Downtime (6.x, C/S, MG) – Supplemental tutorials are now available for Data Mapping and Scheduling Downtime. Take some time to review them, and contact your DR specialist with follow-up questions. Go to: Data Mapping and Scheduling Downtime (6.x, C/S, MG)
  • BAR e-Learning Tutorials – New tutorials have been added. Go to: Billing/Accounts Receivables Tutorials (6.1, 6.0, C/S, MG)
  • MEDITECH has provided guides for the Meaningful Use Stage 3 required Bidirectional Immunization. These guides are available for all platforms and provide a detailed overview of the workflow and build across all applicable applications. Go to: Bidirectional Immunization Guides (6.1, 6.08, C/S, MG)
• We’d like to share an excellent interview with Dan Nash, CIO, Citrus Valley Health Partners, which has just begun its migration from MAGIC to 6.1. There are lots of great lessons shared on governance, making a business case, and project management.
• Candy Edie, NHA lead consultant, will present “Your Revenue Cycle: It’s Not Just Billing Anymore,” for the American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management (AAHAM) on February 7 from 1:30-3:00 p.m. Eastern. This timely, intermediate level webinar will demonstrate how to increase volume, maximize revenue, and create efficiencies in the billing and collections process. If you are a CFO, physician practice manager, PFS director, or patient access manager you won’t want to miss this informative session. Click here to register.
• Congratulations to our friends at the following organizations that recently went LIVE with MEDITECH 6.1. NHA is proud to have been the READY-certified consulting partner for each of these projects:
  • Firelands Regional Medical Center of Sandusky, Ohio. Firelands is the third site in the country to Go-LIVE on Web Acute and Web ED. They also brought up Oncology as part of this implementation. Their success has been highlighted in a video featuring CIO Denao Ruttino and physician champion Dr. Patrick Tupa.
  • Wooster Community Hospital, Wooster, Ohio. Wooster went LIVE with MEDITECH’s 6.15 EHR solution for acute and Web Ambulatory. Migrating from the 6.0 platform, Wooster also implemented MEDITECH Oncology. Claims were successfully posted on the fourth business day post-LIVE!
  • Deborah Heart and Lung Center of Browns Mills, New Jersey. Deborah went LIVE with MEDITECH’s 6.15 EHR solution for acute and Web Ambulatory. Deborah is a long-time user of MEDITECH, migrating to 6.1 from C/S version 5.66. Within the first week of LIVE the hospital was submitting new claims and achieving over ninety (90) percent compliance for CPOE usage by its providers.
• NHA is pleased to announce we have been selected by the following organizations for their upcoming projects:
  • Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – PATH Optimization Assessment
  • Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Needham, Massachusetts – MAGIC 5.67 to 6.15 SUR and 6.15 Access eForms Implementation
  • Conway Regional Health System, Conway, Arkansas – 6.15 Web Ambulatory Revenue Cycle Assistance
  • Milford Hospital, Milford, Connecticut – PCS Status Board Support
  • Lane Regional Medical Center, Zachary, Louisiana – MAGIC to 6.16 Implementation with Web Ambulatory
  • Citizens Memorial Hospital, Bolivar, Missouri – 6.x C/S Pathway Implementation
  • Northwestern Medical Center, Saint Albans, Vermont – Nursing Documentation Assessment
  • University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, Tyler, Texas – C/S Medicaid Waiver Project

Calendar of Events

Upcoming MEDITECH events:

MEDITECH at HIMSS18
March 5-9, Las Vegas, NV
Booth #1360
 
2018 Home Care Optimization Symposium
March 20-22, Atlanta, GA
Here’s some of what you’ll experience over the two-and-a-half-day free symposium

• Find out how to optimize your current Home Care solution for more efficient documentation, task management, and reporting
• Learn how to get the most out of recent Home Care enhancements directly from a client’s perspective
• Hear about MEDITECH’s latest development efforts, including Private Pay Billing and Hospice Inpatient Improvements
• Network with your peers and meet with MEDITECH’s Home Care specialists to explore creative quality improvement strategies

NHA is Hiring

If you are interested in consulting, consider joining us. NHA continues to need excellent MEDITECH specialists and for the fourth year in a row, we have been named to the Top 100 “Best Places to Work” by Modern Healthcare magazine.

We are currently looking for candidates with implementation experience with MEDITECH’s 6.1 applications, with special interest in the AMB and RCG applications.

If you are interested, please contact us at recruiting@navinhaffty.com or call us at (855) 309-9334. See what positions are currently available by visiting the NHA Careers page.

Please note that at this time we are only able to consider those able to travel up to 80% of the time (also employees from MEDITECH and our clients cannot be considered).

Client Job Board

If you are interested in exploring new positions at other organizations, visit the client job board section of our website. This is a free service of NHA to the MEDITECH community. Currently, there are many postings from MEDITECH organizations. If you or a colleague are interested, check out what’s open.

If you would like to include your organization’s listing on the NHA website, please email Katie Kelly at kkelly@navinhaffty.com. Please note that as this is a courtesy to the MEDITECH community, we will not accept postings from recruiting companies.