Challenge
OrthoNebraska is an orthopedic care provider and surgery center.
In the face of evolving surgical practices that reduce patient stays to mere hours instead of days, OrthoNebraska confronted challenges in ensuring efficient prescription delivery while maintaining compliance with stringent insurance and state regulations.
Their previous software was slow, clunky, and unreliable, opening them up to the possibility of errors. The staff was frequently stalled by manual processes. OrthoNebraska needed a modern, streamlined software solution that could keep up with their fast-paced environment.
Solution
OrthoNebraska turned to Emporos for its cloud- and browser-based mobile point of sale (mPOS), Hilo Mobile. This partnership revolutionized their prescription delivery process:
- Seamless Bedside Transactions: “We can collect the payment and the signature through Hilo,” shared Amber Harris, pharmacist at OrthoNebraska. “Everything is electronic, and it can all happen right at the bedside. There’s no back and forth between the pharmacy and the patient’s hospital bed. It’s just all together in one piece. It’s really cut out a lot of extra steps and time for us.”
- Integration with McKesson EnterpriseRx: Hilo Mobile effortlessly integrates into OrthoNebraska’s existing McKesson EnterpriseRx (ERX) Pharmacy Management System (PMS) for filling prescriptions, allowing real-time communication and compliance with regulatory requirements.
- Ease of Use: Hilo’s user-friendly interface ensured the system could be implemented even during OrthoNebraska’s busiest month, without disrupting workflow. “I’m glad we went ahead and implemented it in December, because it helped the whole delivery process during our busiest month,” said Harris. “It’s a really easy system to learn, it didn’t take long. Plus, it’s really easy to add over-the-counter items in the background as well.”
Emporos’ partnership ensured a smooth implementation process, providing comprehensive training sessions to OrthoNebraska staff to facilitate transition to the new system.
The actual delivery process has been reduced by 67%. It’s really freed up time to focus on patient care and not be so bogged down by manual tasks.
Amber Harris, OrthoNebraska Pharmacist
Results
The implementation of Emporos’s Hilo Mobile bore remarkable results for OrthoNebraska, with significant impacts observed across various facets of their operations:
- Increased Efficiency: The overall delivery process time was cut down from three steps to one, saving staff 67% of their time previously spent on delivery, allowing them to redirect their focus to patient care. Prior to using Hilo Mobile, the three steps required to deliver meds to beds were:
1. Write down credit card information
2. Collect signature on paper
3. Process the credit card manually once back at the pharmacy.
Their new process is one electronic step: Process the credit card and signature all at one time.
It previously took 3 steps to deliver meds to beds. Now it’s 1.
- Improved Organization: The system’s integration also facilitated an organized approach to prescription delivery, eliminating redundancies and ensuring a smoother patient experience. “It’s really cut out a lot of extra steps and time for us,” shared Harris. It previously took 12 minutes to deliver prescriptions at bedside. Now, it takes about 4 minutes, saving 8 minutes on every bedside delivery.
It previously took 12 minutes to deliver prescriptions at bedside. Now, with Emporos, it takes 4 minutes.
- Enhanced Patient Satisfaction: The convenience of modern payment options combined with the professional and streamlined process, greatly improved patient satisfaction.
- Heightened Staff Satisfaction: Timelier medication delivery positively influenced the discharge process, freeing up staff time and enhancing overall hospital workflow while reducing the time it takes to dispense, collect payment, and discharge patients with their medications.
In addition, OrthoNebraska benefited from reduced transaction fees, a direct result of moving to a more sophisticated, automated system. “Hilo is more professional and cleaner,” shared Harris. “Just a better system than what we had.”
Conclusion
The successful partnership between OrthoNebraska and Emporos reflects a milestone advancement in how providers can leverage technology to enhance patient care, operational efficiency, and compliance. By addressing the nuanced challenges of prescription delivery in a fast-paced healthcare environment, OrthoNebraska has not only streamlined their operational procedures but also uplifted the overall patient and staff experience—further solidifying their reputation as a leading orthopedic provider in Nebraska.
