Long Term Care Diversion (LTCD) participants via a contract with the Department of Elder Affairs (DOEA), and Commercial enrollees via individual contracts. Future products are expected to provide services for small and large employer groups, both insured and self-funded.

Project Brief
The client needed to implement a solution which would improve the patient referral process so that there was better continuity of care for the patient, reduced errors related to data entry, immediate authorizations for services requested and increased efficiency for staff by reducing paper based faxes, phone calls and printing.  In addition the client sought to have a system by which reports related to referrals could be obtained including referral patterns and trends as well as a secure way to track employee action against referrals.

Visions@Work Solution
Visions@Work set up a customized version of Preferr, a software application platform created to address a growing need in the health care industry to improve patient satisfaction and organizational efficiencies related to the referral process. Preferr is not only designed to create a collaboration platform by which healthcare providers can better serve their patients but also to provide a tool by which costs and efficiencies can be improved in a short period of time.  Reporting tools are provided with Preferr to help track referrals and monitor trends allowing organizations to better manage the process and provider relationships ultimately leading to improved patient satisfaction

Preferr provides requesting providers with immediate authorizations.  This is accomplished by maintaining a pre-defined list of authorized procedures as well as exception procedures which can then be used during the referral initiation process for immediate approval.  If for some reason the pre-defined authorization does not match what is on file, the referral can be put on hold until appropriate authorization is attained for the procedure or service in question.

Results
Preferr allowed the client to improve their physician /provider network due to the real time exchange of patient referral information in a way that decreased the time involved in obtaining authorizations for service because it was provided electronically during the referral submission through Preferr. Patient satisfaction improved because the time needed to schedule their service and obtain authorization was reduced and more accurate.  In addition, staff efficiency was improved due to a reduced need for faxing and multiple phone calls to process referral information. 

Technology / Tools

• Windows 2005 Server
• SQL 2005
• ASP.Net Framework
• HIPAA Compliant
• Verisign Secured