Matrix Case Study

Bradford Ecumenical Home is impressed with improved processes and reporting with Matrix

As the long-term care industry's push towards an electronic health record became more intense, Bradford Ecumenical Home chose to implement Matrix in the spring of 2008. By using Matrix, an integrated clinical and financial web-based system, staff no longer spent time flipping through paper documentation but instead had all the information at their fingertips.

The lack of an automated workflow between clinical and financial disciplines was a challenge for Bradford Ecumenical Home which led them to look for different software. "One of the reasons we chose Matrix was the integration between disciplines and both clinical and financial staff liked it and found Matrix very user-friendly," says Julie Chartreau, IS Director at Bradford Ecumenical Home. With Matrix, clinical and financial users share one point of data entry for all census and resident demographic information. This structure results in consistent and accurate records that only need to be edited once if changes are necessary. Resident Messaging within the system facilitates communication, alerting the appropriate parties to updates and changes that have occurred in the system. Medicare A and Medicaid RUGS information also flows seamlessly to the financial application, ensuring accurate payer billing.

"Before Matrix, staff spent a lot of their time charting and when having to chart in multiple places, some documentation would be missed. This was especially problematic at survey time. But with Matrix we've seen better Department of Health surveys. Surveyors come into our facility and can find information readily and easily in Matrix and the accurate documentation simplifies the process," states Chartreau.

With the addition of Matrix Point of Care - mobile charting technology - in the fall of 2009, the accuracy of documentation became even more evident. “We really feel like we are transitioning toward a true electronic health record," says Chartreau. Clinical staff use wall-mounted kiosks for real-time charting which seamlessly integrates with Matrix to update the resident record. “Because charting is done electronically as care is given, staff can spend more time with patients providing the care they need and deserve," says Chartreau. "In addition, all disciplines receive up-to-date, accurate information on the patient. I like the POC Compliance report because it ensures that everything is being charted before the end of the shift and lets us evaluate documentation compliance over a period of time resulting in higher reimbursements."

Matrix offers other clinical features to help meet facility specific needs. "We've found that being able to add Standing Orders makes Matrix facility-specific and user-friendly," say Chartreau. The pre-set orders can be applied to residents as needed. These orders are set up with all of the necessary order information, including the order frequency, time of administration, and flow sheet. Entering this type of order is easy because all of the information is provided. However, information can be edited before completing the order. "Being able to create new Observation and Event templates also allows for flexibility and customization," adds Chartreau. Within Matrix there are 70 observation templates and 30 event templates used across the industry. Each one is customizable to meet facility specific needs.

"Specifically, we've seen a direct result in the amount of information our Care Plan team receives since using Matrix," says Chartreau. "For example, better Nutrition information is received from Observations, Safety Measures are retrieved from Falls and Interventions from Behavior come from Point of Care."

One of the key benefits Bradford Ecumenical Home has experienced on the AR/Billing side of Matrix is in the speed and efficiency of running statements and Month End Close. Chartreau states, "Running statements used to be a multi-day process. Now, it takes less than an hour. The billing department now spends two hours doing Month End Close compared to two days before implementing Matrix." And in that time, the system is validating that the month is closed with the appropriate data integrity. Examples include ensuring the General Ledger transaction created by Accounts Receivable is balanced, resolving all billing errors, etc.

In addition to efficient processes, Matrix also provides more detailed financial reporting. "Since using Matrix, we've really been impressed with the reporting capabilities. The Aging Report and the numerous Census Reports for tracking and trending are so valuable to the facility," comments Chartreau. The Aging Report includes outstanding balance information by payer or by resident. The detailed or summarized payer balances outstanding are distributed to eight aging "buckets". A facility can select to age by month or by day buckets, defined by the user.

With all this information available to the facility in one spot, Bradford Ecumenical Home found the security features of Matrix to be an important and deciding factor. "The fact that all users have their own unique user ID and password is a great feature. And using the default system's security template allows for easier addition of users," says Chartreau. The security template determines the user's default security configuration, or access levels to the various pages and sections in Matrix. Each page is built dynamically with the sections to which the user has been granted access. In addition, Matrix verifies the user's add, update, and delete privileges to determine whether the user can change, add or delete information on the page. "The PHI audits are also nice to see what and when information was accessed and by which user," adds Chartreau.

"With its ease of use, both the clinical and financial staff love using Matrix and we have found the tech support is great," says Chartreau. "Processes across the board are more efficient and the reporting capability is outstanding."