The Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services find seamless documentation access regardless of care setting

Building efficiencies through a single EHR platform: Success story for Intellectual and Development Disabilities

About The Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services

As the largest human services agency in New York City, The Jewish Board serves more than 40,000 clients at 75 locations scattered throughout the five boroughs and in a 125-acre campus in Westchester, NY. Their community services operates 50 mental health clinics and preventative services for about 600 families. The organization also has 12 Kosher Residences serving individuals with intellectual developmental disabilities (I/DD), with a bed capacity of 142. The Jewish Board works to instill hope, recovery and resiliency within those they serve.

The challenge

Before switching to a fully integrated electronic health record (EHR) for their I/DD programs, The Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services faced some challenges related to clinical documentation and medication tracking. Conducted partially on paper, many of the organization’s workflows were not timely, often manual and disparate. Before implementing myAvatar, The Jewish Board did not have an electronic software for their clinical documentation and medication, causing lack of standardization across various residences as well as the inability for staff to access files in multiple setting locations. Ordering medications was a hassle and prescription tracking was difficult and time consuming.

We have seen a tremendous change in enabling care coordination throughout the organization. The benefit has been 100%.

Madhuparna Dutta, MS, Director of Clinical Applications

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In order to easily access documentation in all care settings, reduce paper usage and eliminate the risk of lost paperwork, The Jewish Board implemented myAvatar within their Intermediate Care Facility program, followed by their Individual Residential and Alternative Residential Habilitation programs.

“We wanted an EHR system that would help us standardize our documentation and workflow, while allowing us to easily track medication administration records,” Director of Clinical Applications Madhuparna Dutta, MS said. “We discovered the ability to do all of that and more through our partnership with Netsmart.”

Partnering with Netsmart

Upon partnering with Netsmart and implementing myAvatar for their I/DD programs, The Jewish Board team is now able to reference accurate, up-to-date and comprehensive information about clients at the point of care, whether the clinician is remote or in the office. This drives care coordination and empowers staff to provide more wholistic care by knowing the individual’s full health history. Eliminating paper and manual process means they have one complete view, reducing the amount of risk and streamlining coding and billing.

“We have seen a tremendous change in enabling care coordination throughout the organization,” Dutta said. “The benefit has been 100%.”

The Jewish Board staff has also seen a significant jump in time savings after adopting the integrated EHR. Time clinicians spent traveling to multiple residential sites has decreased by at least 60%. Staff is also spending less time completing documentation, which allows them to spend more time on quality services and individual care.

The Jewish Board staff has also seen a significant jump in time savings after adopting the integrated EHR. Time clinicians spent traveling to multiple residential sites has decreased by at least 60%. Staff is also spending less time completing documentation, which allows them to spend more time on quality services and individual care.

Addressing staff hesitancy

Often times there can be some hesitancy among staff when transitioning to an EHR, whether that be from paper or from another system. The idea of learning a whole new workflow and adopting unfamiliar technology can be daunting for clinicians and providers. The Jewish Board experienced some of the same reluctancy among its own staff when transitioning to a fully electronic platform.

“Initially, there was some real concerns from staff about using the EHR due to limited computer skills and no prior usage experience,” Executive Program Director I/DD Services, Esther Gottlieb, said. “However, our experience working with the Netsmart team and the EHR has been overwhelmingly positive.”

There was also some concern regarding how specific forms would translate electronically. Gottlieb reported that forms have translated over clearly and accurately, and changes are made to the system in a timely manner. She also said that staff have learned and acclimated quickly to the system, which has an added bonus of instilling personal pride and satisfaction into their work.

Using myAvatar, Jewish Board’s billing staff are presented with new efficiencies and benefits. myAvatar supports ICF and IRA Medicaid billing, as well as OPWDD billing requirements. Monthly allowances needed for ICF are available within the EHR. Staff noted that myAvatar has the flexibility to handle the various levels in order to bill differently. Inpatient and residential charges are automatically generated via posting of the unit census once it has been verified, saving staff time and manual entry.

Moving forward

The Jewish Board plans to continue leveraging myAvatar in order to maintain workflow efficiencies, prioritize quality, whole-person care and generate quick and comprehensive documentation at the point of care. The organization looks forward to implementing myAvatar in their Day Habilitation program next.