CLIENT SPOTLIGHT: LONGEVITY AND WELLNESS CENTER OF SOUTH TEXAS

Susan Price, Administrator
Longevity and Wellness Center of South Texas
Corpus Christi, Texas
Multi-specialty group, 2 locations

When she left Stephenville Medical and Surgical Clinic to take on a new challenge, Susan Price knew that at Longevity and Wellness Center of South Texas she would have a familiar partner: Navicure. Already an expert at enhancing cash flow and reducing rejection rates, Price continued to improve revenue cycle management in new ways at Longevity.

You became a Navicure customer at your previous practice?
I was director of operations at Stephenville, and we needed to update our decades-old practice management system. During the search, one of our top vendors introduced Navicure as their business partner for claims management. Ironically, their compatibility with Navicure turned out to be what finally sold us on their PM system.

Why did you choose Navicure, and how did that turn out?
At the Stephenville Practice, we had more than 30 providers and a wide range of facilities. Navicure was able to handle all of the idiosyncrasies associated with billing for rural health clinics and ambulatory surgery centers. Before Navicure, days in A/R averaged 60- 65. By the end of the first year, we had reduced that to the 30s.

How did you wind up using Navicure at your current group?
Actually, LWCST was already sold on Navicure – and that was one of the reasons I accepted this position. Navicure was already in place, but there had been a lot of staff turnover. When I got there, I started talking to the providers and working with the coders to do some tweaking. By altering some processes, we were better able to act on the edits Navicure was catching and improve internal work habits.

What did you have to do?
Navicure had been continuously contacting the practice with suggestions about reducing rejections. But we needed some training and education to resolve our coding issues.

When I got there, the rejection rate was around 18%. Now our physicians, coders and billing staff are really working together as a team. In our most recent 30-day period, we were below 6%.

What is your working relationship with Navicure like?
I’ve been in this business for awhile, but have never had such wonderful support. I was shocked one time when I was on the phone with Navicure and heard a foghorn in the background – the alert that the client services team sounds when a call isn’t answered within three rings. That showed me they are serious about the emphasis on customer service. It’s a big deal to Navicure when you don’t reach a person right away.

They’re just phenomenal people. We recently decided to start doing electronic eligibility verification. My Navicure account relationship manager – who “moved” with me from the Stephenville practice – called to say that if we bundled services differently we could get a lower rate per doctor. How many vendors would make a suggestion that lowers your cost and their revenue? They are MAGICAL!

How did your staff respond to Navicure?
Navicure makes our jobs easier. And it makes us look good. But it’s more than that. Using their products, our people become experts. That’s one reason why I felt comfortable leaving Stephenville. The people there have a special place in my heart, but I knew they were well-prepared and in good hands.

Here at LWCST, the physicians’ reaction has been shock. They had no idea about the scope of the problems related to coding. Our founder and CEO, Dr. Guinn, has said in our meetings that he’s never had a system that gave such feedback about trends and current status. He thinks it’s one of the most valuable financial tools we have.

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