Gregory P. Sanders, MD FACC, is a Harvard-trained, practicing, board-certified cardiologist. He works with a private practice in Arizona and during work he noticed huge gaps in the rounding process. Seeing an opportunity, he created a software program (that’s right – he also has a background in computer programming) that would help solve these issues. The software would facilitate census management and charge capture – it’s now known today as HybridChart.
We sat down with Dr. Sanders and conducted an exclusive interview in order to learn more about who he is, as well as gain some insight into challenges faced by physicians today. We also discussed HybridChart’s upcoming launch of EVOLVE and how that can help solve these challenges. Read on to learn more.
Q: You have a very unique and incredibly diverse skill sets. In what ways has your experience as a software developer and cardiologist helped shape the Arizona healthcare landscape?
As a full-time practicing cardiologist, my software was created and developed by a physician for physicians. Rarely is this the case in the healthcare technology space. We are forced to use clunky, non-intuitive software that absolutely does not solve our workflow issues. So, you can either complain and stomp your feet or jump in and say “I have the ability to change this and contribute to fixing what is wrong in healthcare”. I chose the latter and not only do I want to impact our regional healthcare space but also provide solutions nationwide to practices seeking and desiring change.
Q: What do you feel is the primary challenge physicians face in today’s healthcare ecosystem?
Physicians are simply spread too thin. Because of all the requirements, both regulatory and insurance driven, the amount of clerical work a physician is responsible for in a day is overwhelming. And, this cuts into the precious 1:1 time we get to spend with each patient. Patients deserve more time than we are spending with them. My philosophy and really the philosophy of our entire practice and my partners is to seek and utilize tools that heighten my efficiency and allow me more time with my patients.
Q: How does HybridChart, and the EVOLVE product, address this challenge?
HybridChart EVOLVE helps with this challenge in two big ways. First, the platform creates more efficiency. We’ve worked to make it even more intuitive and easy to use, saving time and effort. By nature it is customizable and flexible to meet the workflow needs of specific practices. The ability of the system to adapt to workflow, not the other way around, allows for streamlined workflow and efficient adoption. Second, EVOLVE allows for passive data collection. This is a time saver for Providers, but also allows for consistent data collection across the practice.
Q: What benefits do providers and patients see when an organization makes the move from a paper charge capture system to mobile charge capture?
One word summarizes paper charge capture–inefficient. And not only are you inefficient but it promotes inefficiencies throughout your entire practice. First, our tool provides separate census lists for each hospital you are rounding at enabling easy handoffs between you and your partners. With mobile charge capture, you are billing patients at bedside, which significantly reduces an entire practice’s days in AR and automatically increases monthly revenue because 1 in every 10 charges are missed. For a practice with 10 partners, this can equate to over a million dollars in missed revenue annually. And, we can’t afford to miss charges with today’s reimbursement platform.
Q: What do you find to be the biggest barriers for organizations to make this transition?
Physicians have been inundated with so much change over the last 2 decades. We are tired. We don’t want anymore clunky technology that isn’t physician friendly. So, it’s a challenge to get physicians excited about another piece of technology. However, once they use our software, they are hooked and we have nearly a 100% retention rate with our customers.
Q: If you could offer one piece of advice to physicians just now entering the healthcare workforce, what would it be?
Don’t accept the status quo. You can make a difference and provide valuable leadership to changing healthcare and disrupting the status quo. We need healthcare leadership, people who understand a physician’s day to day workflow to engage in providing solutions to our real healthcare problems. Every one of us are capable of contributing and working together to reach solutions that ultimately provide better care for our patients and better workflow for our providers.
Q: What change(s) would you most like to see made in the healthcare system to improve the quality of work (and life) for providers?
Ideally, providers would be able to communicate, gather, and share information as a patient flows through the eco-health system. Commonly, a hospital, surgery center, clinic and nursing home all have independent eHRs. Therefore, we are operating in silos with little to no exchange of information about the patient as they go from one facility to the next. HybridChart is agnostic and can provide a link, a connection between all of these facilities enabling a much safer and holistic approach to caring for each patient.
With our commitment to unmatched customer service, we listened to our customer’s feedback and wish list items, and implemented many of them within HybridChart EVOLVE.
We’re thrilled to release this cutting-edge technology and additional features for our existing customers and new customers. Existing clients will work with a dedicated implementation specialist to transition to this new platform.
To request a demo of HybridChart EVOLVE schedule a time on our demo calendar here.
