At Roosevelt General Hospital (RGH), fiscal sustainability is a priority shared across departments. To support these efforts, the Portales, New Mexico facility regularly evaluates its processes to optimize benefits, seeks new revenue sources, reduces costs, and works with area legislators, along with collaboration with the New Mexico Hospital Association and New Mexico Rural Health Network, to ensure adequate funding for safety net hospitals. Additionally, the organization has introduced several successful initiatives that have also contributed to its improved financial health and supported staff retention.
“We are proof that despite the innumerable challenges of the healthcare industry, rural hospitals can improve their financial health while remaining independent,” said Roosevelt General Hospital CEO Kaye Green, FACHE. “Agility and innovation are key to improving the bottom line so we can continue to seek new opportunities to build on our achievements.”
As a rural not-for-profit hospital that provides acute and ambulatory care, emergency medicine, and surgery services, RGH values the ability to remain independent when mergers and acquisitions are common. By doing so, RGH has maintained control over everything from cost management and what services it offers patients, to the workflow in its MEDITECH Expanse EHR.
“We retain our patients by eliminating the need for them to seek care elsewhere,” said Roosevelt General Hospital Chief Financial Officer Andrea King, CPA. “By conducting community health needs assessments, we can determine what services our patients need, and target our efforts to meet those needs. For example, we expanded our OR and off-site clinic to allow for more capacity and convenience.”
One of Roosevelt General Hospital’s key financial strategies was its decision to implement a cloud-hosted subscription model EHR to replace its previous on-premise system. The organization implemented MEDITECH as a Service (MaaS), which delivers the full Expanse platform. The change in EHR model reduced costs associated with onsite equipment as well as IT service demands. Additionally, the cloud-hosted model enables the hospital to support remote staff, which is important for staff retention.
“MEDITECH offered state-of-the-art software with an affordable price tag, which is essential for us to remain independent,” said Roosevelt General Hospital Business Office Director Jessica Camacho, MBA. “MaaS has given us the flexibility to customize our software to meet the unique needs of our rural environment across all care settings.”
Since going live with Expanse in 2021, RGH has leveraged the platform’s integrated Revenue Cycle solution for financial improvements. This has resulted in increased collections and efficiency improvements, with its payment-to-charge ratio increasing by seven percentage points since 2022.
“Expanse Revenue Cycle has greatly improved our process for posting insurance payments and reduced the number of AR days,” said Camacho. “The process is easy and we’ve also been able to reduce our FTE requirements for the department.”
Data collected from Expanse also helps drive the organization’s financial and strategic decisions. By accessing the Financial Status Dashboard, leaders can see patient volume, revenue, cash flow, accounts receivable, and staff productivity in one dynamic view.
“The days of combining spreadsheets and manually manipulating data are over,” Camacho added. “The dashboard allows us to make quick decisions on what will be financially viable when considering future projects or continuing service lines.”
Roosevelt General Hospital continues to look for new opportunities to further improve its fiscal well-being, including incorporating AI and machine learning technology. Other initiatives they are considering include developing a Swing Bed program, expanding their surgical services, and adopting additional financial management tools.
MEDITECH Vice President Carol Labadini believes hospitals like Roosevelt General should be able to leverage the best technology and prepare for the future, without becoming dependent on larger health networks. “MaaS provides access to all of the advanced capabilities of Expanse without requiring a large upfront capital investment and staffing large data centers,” she said.
“All healthcare organizations should be able to leverage their EHR in a way that best suits them and their patients, without requiring a large capital investment or having to conform to some other corporation’s needs and priorities. MaaS is one way for these hospitals to access the most advanced technology and succeed on their own terms.”
Learn more about why organizations of all sizes are choosing MaaS and MEDITECH Expanse Revenue Cycle to support their financial, clinical, and organizational goals.