No More No-Shows: 15% reduction in no-show and cancellations for Chandler PT

Background

After Eric Christensen spent two years serving as clinic director at another clinic, he and his wife, Ashley, stepped in as the owners of Chandler Physical Therapy in 2012. Today, Chandler PT has four doctors of physical therapy, a physical therapy assistant, three therapy techs, a front office manager, and a biller. “We all work together like a family,” Christensen said. “Pranks are played quite often.”

Challenges

Before transitioning to an EMR, Chandler PT was documenting on paper charts—and according to Christensen, “it was terrible.” Not only was the staff unable to read the handwritten notes, but there also were stacks upon stacks of paper cluttering the desktops. That prompted the team to switch to Practice Fusion. “It did the basics,” Christensen said. “But it was changing rapidly, and the changes were primarily for general practitioners and doctor’s offices.” In other words, the system was not designed for physical therapists. It wasn’t until Chandler PT switched to WebPT that they were able to “run good numbers and metrics and have consistent documentation.” And according to Christensen, “a consistent flow to each patient note is important.”

Solution

Christensen knew Practice Fusion wasn’t specific enough to physical therapy, which is why he sought out WebPT. “We needed something that worked for PTs because it was made by a PT,” he said. But it was WebPT’s excellent onboarding and education teams that sealed the deal—and made for a totally smooth transition. “We had concerns because of the potential for hangups to slow our billing process, but this wasn’t the case,” Christensen said. “WebPT did everything it needed to do, and we were up and running seamlessly.” When it was time to go live, WebPT’s training team “made sure our therapists knew exactly what to do,” which meant Christensen had very little training to do himself.

"I’m a more efficient therapist—and our billing is more efficient—with WebPT. Knowing I have the support of WebPT behind me is a huge benefit to my business."

Benefits

Saves Time—and Eliminates Compliance Headaches

“WebPT keeps us compliant,” Christensen said. “And it keeps our billing in check.” On that note, WebPT’s seamless integration with Chandler PT’s billing software ensures the clinic’s data flows easily. WebPT also has been super helpful when it comes to quality data and reporting—and Chandler PT is documenting much more efficiently with WebPT than ever before. “It saves me time in the long run—especially for patients I’ve already seen,” Christensen said. “Importing past medical history is a big time-saver.” He saves about one minute per note, which ends up being about an hour per week. Now, that adds up.

Generates Meaningful, Actionable Data

“From the flow perspective, our plans of care are clean, easy to read, and they look great when we fax them to referral sources,” Christensen said. Plus, having Chandler PT’s logo on paperwork has helped his clinic become more recognizable to referral sources.

The Chandler PT team also appreciates WebPT’s vast reporting functionality: “I love the reports I can run to help me manage my clinic,” Christensen said. “My metrics are much better than before.” Today, he measures staff productivity, referral patterns, transmission statuses, billing amounts, missed notes, and patient cancellation and arrival rates. “We haven’t had a missed note in nearly two years!” Christensen said.

“And we’ve seen a 10–15% drop in no-shows and cancellations as a result of WebPT’s automatic appointment reminders.”

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“And we’ve seen a 10–15% drop in no-shows and cancellations as a result of WebPT’s automatic appointment reminders.”

_{Eric Christensen PT, DPT
Owner}

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The reminders have even helped improve patient satisfaction: according to Christensen, their patients love getting these automated messages.

Provides Top-Notch Customer Support

WebPT’s therapy-specific design is a natural fit for Chandler PT. “I can use it out of the box with very little tweaking,” Christensen said. And, if he or a member of his team ever has a question, Christensen says the WebPT customer service team addresses things extremely quickly. “This saves me time and energy”—two things you can never have enough of in private practice. In fact, Christensen says that WebPT’s “customer service stands out the most: the support is top-notch with quick responses and quick action.”