Search
Log In

TRACE Expands into Nevada with Barton HealthCare System

South Lake Tahoe, CA, March 31, 2008

TRACE is expanding into new territory with two hospitals in the Barton HealthCare System. The health system recently purchased TRACE for implementation at Barton Memorial in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., and at Carson Valley Medical Center, the first Nevada hospital to use TRACE.

Barton Memorial is currently implementing TRACE in its Admitting areas with plans to roll out the system to its physician offices in the next phase of implementation.

"We often face confusion over what procedures require authorization and who is responsible for obtaining it," said Diane Roeser-Kinney, director of patient financial services. "TRACE will help us keep track of the authorization process to resolve these ‘he-said, she-said’ scenarios."

Barton Memorial manages 28 physician practices, each of which is responsible for obtaining its own authorization. The offices routinely send orders for services indicating “no authorization required.” After the hospital performs and bills for the procedures, however, they are often denied due to lack of authorization. At Barton Memorial alone, the system wrote off $170,000 in one year as a result of these denials.

In the future, physician offices will use TRACE to record phone calls to payers for authorization and to capture orders faxed to the hospital for procedures. The hospital will monitor these records through the web-based tracking system to ensure that the office has made an attempt at authorization.

"It’s all about that circle of activity. If we can find out where the activity originated, we can go back and get credit for it," said Roeser-Kinney.

Barton HealthCare System is a not-for-profit, community-owned health system. Barton Memorial Hospital is an acute care hospital consisting of 24-hour emergency care services, 75 patient beds and a Skilled Nursing Facility with 48 resident beds. Carson Valley Medical Center is located in Gardnerville, Nev.



About The White Stone Group

The White Stone Group builds and delivers software solutions that improve the management of healthcare communication events. Nearly 400 hospitals are licensed to use the company's TRACE and OptiVox® products that automate managed care, administrative, and clinical communications for healthcare providers. Proven results include improved revenue cycle processes, greater management capabilities, and expedited patient throughput. For more information, visit TWSG.com.

Contact: Erin McCarty, (865)705-1622, Erin.McCarty@twsg.com

© 2010 The White Stone Group, Inc.