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Rock-Pond Reports Usage Peaks Again in April

May 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Rock-Pond Reports Usage – April 2012

The number of Rock-Pond Reports run by customers continues to grow.  April marks the fourth consecutive monthly increase in usage this year.  With just under 6,000 reports run in April, the total report usage for 2012 thus far is approximately 20,000.

Why does Rock-Pond continue to see growth?

The year of 2012 has been and continues to be a defining time for our company.  We have tripled the number of employees, including doubling the number of Rock-Pond Reports developers.  We have no plans to slow down any time soon either.  Credit for the consistent progression in the usage of our reports can be broken down into three factors: more customers, more users, and more types of users.

Great things are happening in the Pond

If you are not a Rock-Pond Reports customer, this blog post illustrates almost 6,000 reasons why you should join the Pond.  We want to show you the value in our Enterprise Reporting Platform, OBSIDIAN.  It is our commitment to give you the INFORMATION you need from DATA you have in your CPR+, HomecareNet, or Ascend software.  Contact us today to sign up for the OBSIDIAN Challenge — Experience OBSIDIAN free for five days, then try to live without it!

If you are a Rock-Pond Reports customer, thank you.  Our success is the direct outcome of your success with our products.  Without innovative customers like you, we wouldn’t have the opportunity to provide the answers to Tough Questions that providers are faced with on a daily basis.  We encourage you to extend the number of users in your company, determine what additional reports can provide you value, and continue giving us the opportunity to serve you.

Check in next month to see if the trend continues!

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Focusing on Patient Pay

May 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Are you managing your patient pay A/R?

Patient pay collection doesn’t have to be a hassle for your company. Rock-Pond has a lot of patient pay functionality to help manage this area of A/R.  Our goal is to give providers the tools for faster reimbursements, less confusion, and more satisfied patients who will refer others to your company.

It’s no secret that patient pay balances are extremely difficult to collect.  The process is time consuming, cumbersome, and expensive, especially compared with payer submission and collection.  At Rock-Pond, we realize that the type of staff member it takes to collect from regular payers differs from the type of person dealing with patient pay.  This creates a problem in CPR+ since patients are listed as individual payers.  We have developed reports to accommodate this short falling in your system so each of your collectors can focus on what is important to them.

A perfect example of our patient pay functionality is our standard A/R Aging Analyzer grouped by Payer within Payer Type.  Instead of listing each patient as individual payers, the report is designed to group all patient pay into one category as seen below.  From that point, you can drill down into the patient payer type to see the specific patients who owe money.  In your system, the A/R Aging report has up to five times as many pages as the Rock-Pond Report simply because the patient pay A/R isn’t grouped together!

Our A/R Analyzer is only one of many tools that Rock-Pond can provide you with to manage your patient pay process. If you are spending too much time or not enough time on patient pay collections, contact us to find out about other reports that can help!

Did I mention we also offer a Patient Pay Statement Solution?

 

Filed Under: CPR+ & Mediware Customers Tagged With: , , , , , ,

NHIA Discount Extended

April 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

One of the highlights of our trip to Phoenix last week for the 2012 NHIA Conference was launching Rock-Pond’s Enterprise Reporting Platform, OBSIDIAN, which received tremendous interest among home infusion providers searching for a way to turn their DATA into meaningful INFORMATION.

As part of the OBSIDIAN launch at NHIA, we announced a 15% discount on the Rock-Pond Information Center for anyone that signed up for the OBSIDIAN Challenge by today, April 30.  Due to the remarkable response, we have decided to extend this discount through the rest of this week to allow more providers to jump on this opportunity.  The OBSIDIAN Challenge is simple:  Experience OBSIDIAN free for five days, then try to live without it!

We have also decided to extend the MHA Anniversary discount.  If you are a MHA Business Solutions Center user, you will receive three months free of Rock-Pond Reports in addition to the 15% discount mentioned above.

Have you signed up for the OBSIDIAN Challenge yet?  Don’t wait!  Now is the perfect time to begin finding value in Rock-Pond’s products and services.  Other great things are happening in the Pond…stay tuned to find out more!

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Rock-Pond Reports reach Critical Mass

March 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

In the “old days” businesses didn’t have good intelligence on what their customers were doing.  This is no longer true.  Amazon.com’s business is based on the “people who bought this bought that” and Facebook is taking over the world because they know who is connected and that “people who like this like that“.

In 2010, Rock-Pond Solutions committed to know this about our customers.  If we are going to truly be able to serve the needs of our customers, we must know what their needs are.  If we are going to say we answer tough questions, we must know our customer’s tough questions.  More importantly we must be answering them.  We took a lesson from Amazon, Facebook and Google and built our “cloud based computing” architecture that we call ‘The Pond‘.  To find out how to improve service to our customers, we simply need to look in the Pond.

I just ran this report to see what our customers did in the first quarter of 2012.  You can see the detail for 13 of our customers and the total for all of them above. Honestly, I am happily surprised to know that they have run almost 14,000 reports.  With 150% growth in utilization from January to March and sales for the first quarter up over 200% over the first quarter of 2011, we have reached critical mass.  Not only do we know how many reports people are running, but we know that people who run this run that.  We can reach out to customers who are not running a report and let them know about it.  Recently we launched a report that did the calculations for Competitive Bidding.  We know who ran this report.

It doesn’t stop here.  Our customers need to know who in their organization is running reports, what parameters they are using when they run them and to be able to restrict who can run specific reports.  Internal and external auditors demand this information and a company’s DATA is not guaranteed to be secure without it.  In October 2011, Rock-Pond Solutions launched the Rock-Pond Developers Studio so all of our customers will have access to this information.  The first question from a security or compliance officer is, “How do I know someone has not tampered with the INFORMATION access logs?”  The answer is simple.  “They can’t.  The DATA is in the Pond.  And the Pond is secure“.

And it won’t stop there.  We have plans to connect our customers by allowing them to find out who is running a report they are running.  Our customers want to know who has the same tough question they do and how are they answering it.  Using the DATA in the Pond to connect them to the right people, our customers will be able to get the INFORMATION they need at a whole new level.  It’s like an intelligent listserv (outdated way to connect people) or a DATA driven Facebook.  Who knows, we might even connect it to Facebook.

A recent customer whose pharmacy has been in business for over 100 years, says it best of all:

“We have only had Rock-Pond for ten days.  If you take it away from me now, I don’t know what I will do!”

We are humbled by these kinds of comments.  We can’t take much credit for what we have because it is the result of the innovative customers we serve who share their tough questions with us and give us the opportunity to provide them answers they can use.

Rock-Pond Solutions has reached critical mass now and great things are happening in the Pond.  We are committed to know the needs of our customers and to help them get the INFORMATION they need from the DATA they’ve got.  We are also committed to get the INFORMATION we need from the DATA we’ve got so we can go to the next level with our customers.

If you are one of our customers or partners who is attending the 2012 NHIA conference in Phoenix,
please allow us to show you how much we appreciate you
by joining us at the Phoenix Art Museum for a Night of Appreciation.

 

 

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Rock-Pond Integrated into HomecareNet Software

March 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Mediware Information Systems, Inc. and Rock-Pond Solutions are pleased to announce the integration of the Rock-Pond Information Center into the main HomecareNet desktop with the release of HomecareNet 4.4.1.1.

Commenting on the integration, Jennifer Keiser, General Manager of Alternate Care Software for Mediware, stated:

“Last year, one of the top requests of our customer Steering Committee was for an enhanced custom reporting tool to enable them to add custom reports developed using a report-writing tool to the HomecareNet menus.  We determined that Rock-Pond’s Enterprise Reporting Platform would be a great solution for our customers to deploy, run and manage reports through their HomecareNet menus.  This integration is a perfect example of our commitment to continuously enhance our clients’ access to the industry’s best software tools.”

The Rock-Pond Information Center is the report management component of Rock-Pond’s Enterprise Reporting Platform, OBSIDIAN.  Combined with Rock-Pond Reports, the Rock-Pond Developer Studio and Rock-Pond Custom Reporting Services, OBSIDIAN is a comprehensive reporting solution.  Now HomecareNet users can access reports written by their team as well as Rock-Pond Reports without leaving the application.

President of Rock-Pond Solutions, Pete Tanguay, said:

“The integration with HomecareNet in many ways completes the work we started over five years ago working with Advantage Reimbursement to extend the reporting capabilities of HomecareNet.  With proven results in a large base of HomecareNet customers, we expect the integration will further improve efficiencies and expand the use of our Enterprise Reporting Platform in the Mediware customer base.”

If you are a HomecareNet user and would like to use this feature, please visit www.rock-pond.com/hcn for complete information.  Also, existing Rock-Pond customers can download the Rock-Pond Information Center Activator for HomecareNet on the website listed above to make the button active.  If you are not yet a Rock-Pond customer and you would like to utilize this feature, we would love to show you the value in our products.  Contact us at sales@rock-pond.com or (501) 232-4360 to find out more and to begin your free trial.

About Mediware

Mediware delivers interoperable best-of-breed software systems that improve efficiencies and address safety concerns, enabling healthcare organizations to improve care processes while decreasing costs. Core Mediware solutions include blood management technologies for hospitals and blood centers; medication management solutions for hospitals, behavioral health facilities, infusion and specialty pharmacy providers; and business intelligence-based performance management solutions for clinical, regulatory and financial aspects of the broader healthcare market. For more information about Mediware products and services, visit their website at www.mediware.com.

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Axium Healthcare Pharmacy Selects Rock-Pond

March 15, 2012 By 1 Comment

Rock-Pond Solutions welcomes Axium Healthcare to our growing list of customers.

Axium Healthcare Pharmacy, Inc. is a nationwide clinical specialty pharmacy provider with expertise in managing patients on complex therapies and specialty medication distribution.  As one of the nation’s leading specialty pharmacies, Axium Healthcare Pharmacy provides comprehensive therapy-management programs as well as injectable and oral pharmaceutical treatments. Click their logo on the left to visit their website.

Axium completed implementation with Rock-Pond at the end of January.  Since becoming our customer, Rock-Pond has been able to provide several solutions to meet their financial needs.  They needed to be able to analyze their A/R with options to view unapplied cash and run the report by deposit date rather than the transaction date.  Brianda Guzman, Accounting Supervisor at Axium stated:

Before we were a Rock-Pond customer, we had to use four different A/R reports to get the information we needed.  Rock-Pond customized their A/R Aging Analyzer to meet our exact needs.  Everything is now accessible with only one report!

CLICK HERE to learn about the expansion of Rock-Pond’s development team for custom reporting.

Axium also needed to provide auditors with information on their adjustments. Rock-Pond’s exportable Adjustments Aging Analyzer (!c2_1245bx) was exactly what they needed.

The Adjustments Aging report worked perfectly for our auditors!  We couldn’t have got this information out of our CPR+ system without Rock-Pond.

Brianda Guzman, Accounting Supervisor

 

We are proud to call Axium Healthcare Pharmacy our customer and thrilled that our reports are positively impacting their business.  We look forward to answering their Tough Questions in the future.

 

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Rock-Pond Development Team Doubles

March 15, 2012 By 1 Comment

Rock-Pond Solutions is continuously expanding.  We have transitioned from being a consulting company that writes reports to a data analytics company that markets an Enterprise Reporting Platform.  In response to this growth, the Rock-Pond development team has already doubled in 2012.  Under the leadership of Brandon Carpenter, we now have a dedicated staff of four full time people that develop and maintain Rock-Pond Reports and produce custom reports requested by home infusion, specialty pharmacy, and HME providers.

Rock-Pond Reports include a catalog of over 500 reports designed specifically for CPR+ and Mediware users.  Every report we have created is based on the requests of our customers.  Our custom reporting services is a very efficient machine to get the precise information that answers the Tough Questions of our customers.

Before we were a Rock-Pond customer, we had to use four different A/R reports to get the information we needed.  Rock-Pond customized their A/R Aging Analyzer to meet our exact needs.  Everything is now accessible with only one report!

Brianda Guzman, Accounting Supervisor
Axium Healthcare Pharmacy

Click here to read the full story on Axium.

If you are faced with a Tough Question and are tired of spending hours and hours trying to solve it, let our team of experts help you.  Our development team knows where the data is in your system and they know how to put this data in a format that you will understand.  Brandon, Fred, Jeff, and Jonathan are more than just experts on the data structures of all the commercially available home infusion software products; they are a team of people that are committed to providing our customers with quality information in a timely manner.

Jeff Hardy, the newest Data Analyst / Crystal Reports Developer to join the Rock-Pond team, is considered our ‘data extract specialist.’  Jeff recently stated:

After 25 years of information technology experience, I have found that the key to succeeding is understanding how to communicate with customers and being flexible to meet their demands.  My goal at Rock-Pond is to do my part in empowering our customers with the information they need with the best possible customer service while I do it.

Another developer that has joined our team this year is Jonathan Buck.  In addition to assisting customers with all aspects of installing our products, Jonathan works with customers to solve their reporting needs.  In the short time since he has worked here, he has built many relationships with our customers; something that is a core goal of our company.  Just last week, a user from a large hospital-based home infusion company commented on how thankful she was for Jonathan’s excellent work, quick assistance, and great customer service.

Please join us in giving Jeff and Jonathan a huge Rock-Pond welcome!  As we continue growing, we are committed to maintaining a team that gives providers the INFORMATION they need from the DATA they’ve got in a fast and effective manner. Do you have a Tough Question that you need resolved?  If we don’t already have the report, we will develop a custom report to meet your needs.  Contact us at leah@rock-pond.com or by phone at 501.232.4360 to get started.

CLICK HERE to visit the Meet Our Team page and learn more about all the employees that propel Rock-Pond’s success.

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Focus on therapy / payer mix for profitability

February 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

From a financial and profitability perspective, all patients are not equal.  The two primary drivers of profitability in a home infusion business are therapy and payer.  In order to manage your business to drive profitability, you must understand which payer / therapy combinations are “good” business and which ones are not.

As a general rule there will be 6-8 focus therapies that if you do well with those, you’ll do well as a company.  These are therapies like TPN, IVIG, etc.  These may be unique to your specific business focus.  There are other therapies like hydration and catheter care that you will do but are supplemental to the focus therapies.

Not to mention any names, there are some payers that are typically good and others that pay poorly and late in almost all cases.  However, there are many cases where a specific payer / therapy combination is an exception to the quality of the payer.  Often, for example, providers dismiss Medicaid as a poor payer.  This is not always the case.  There may be therapies that your state Medicaid payer recognizes for the value they provide and will pay for them comparable to private insurance.

Rock-Pond Solutions wrote a custom report for a large provider who had identified their focus therapies and wanted to provide their sales team with feedback regarding the quality of the business their referral sources were referring to the company.  Instead of Good / Bad business, they opted for Good Revenue and Low Revenue as the two categories.  The report has the option to run based for new patients (patients where the start of care date and dates of service are in the same month) or all patients.  Providing this feedback to the sales team on a weekly basis gave them immediate feedback on the value of the referrals they were receiving from the physicians and referral sources they were meeting with.  In turn they were able to direct their sales and marketing efforts to drive more Good Revenue in to the business.

Not only did the sales team improve, but the profitability of the business overall improved significantly.  Simply focusing on key therapies, payers who paid poorly on these key therapies and the source of these referrals was the start.  Providing this information to the sales and clinical team so everyone knew the difference between Good Revenue and Low Revenue was the key to improving profitability.

Filed Under: CPR+ & Mediware Customers Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Rock-Pond Solves Timely Filing Problems

May 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Submitting a claim by a payer’s timely filing deadline is essential to running your business successfully. If you submit your claim late, the payer will deny payment on it. Rock-Pond can help you avoid this problem with their timely filing reports for HomecareNet and CPR+.

These reports recently made it much simpler for a Rock-Pond customer who uses the CPR+ system to submit claims in a timely manner. Rock-Pond’s timely filing reports gave them a list of timely filing deadlines for their active insurance companies and gave them detailed reports that showed their unbilled tickets and invoices in their A/R with the reason it hadn’t been billed and the amount expected from each claim.

The company’s director of operations said that while CPR+ has some good tools, the Rock-Pond reports she uses gives her greater detail that allow her to group her information how she needs it.

“CPR+ is great because it will highlight in red if something is timing out, but [the Rock-Pond report] will tell you exactly how much time you have and I think that’s so much better,” she said.

Thanks to Rock-Pond, this customer was able to gain access to the information she needed from the data she had and automatically analyze how her company was doing with filing claims in a timely manner. If you’ve had a similar success with these reports or would like to know more about becoming a Rock-Pond customer in order to take advantage of these reports and many others, contact Rock-Pond today.

Filed Under: CPR+ & Mediware Customers, Success Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

HomecareNet PECOS tracking

July 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

One of the great things about HomecareNet is that it is so robust. Sometimes viewed as complicated, it all pays off when you need to respond to business / industry changes. It’s great for the Mediware development staff too since they don’t have to constantly release “little fixes” with special instructions so the system will handle new, unforseen requirements.

The word of the moment is PECOS, the CMS physician registration process that everyone is scrambling to make sure their referring physicians have completed so they can get paid from Medicare. As a home infusion provider you need to do three things:

  1. Identify the physicians you work with that are not registered.
  2. Change your intake process to verify that the physician is registered with PECOS.
  3. Contact physicians that are not registered to “encourage” them to register or make a decision not to take their patients. 

Do these three things and PECOS will not be a problem for you.  Best of all, these are not hard.  If you are using HomecareNet from Mediware, we recommend:

  1. Use the Rock-Pond PECOS Database Audit to find out exactly where you stand right now.
  2. Set up a PECOS organization in your HomecareNet system and add it as an affiliation to all of the physicians you work with who you’ve verified are registered in PECOS.  Modify your intake process to check this whenever a Medicare patient is admitted. 
  3. Work with your physicians to see that they get registered. 

That’s it.

Featured Artist – Karrie Evenson

Filed Under: CPR+ & Mediware Customers Tagged With: , , ,