Access Services’ Growth and Innovation Through EHR Optimization

How Access Services is Maximizing their EHR systems 

Access Services, a prominent player in the Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities space based in Fort Washington, PA, was well-aware of the organizational outcomes that could be realized through fully adopting EHR. Their journey to leverage the power of health technology has been nothing short of transformative across their organization Access Services’ main challenge was maximizing their EHR and enhancing their current systems. Their EHR was critical to their ongoing success due to its role in service delivery and information management. enkompas stepped in as an integrated and strategic partner, working collaboratively with all levels of Access Services’ leadership. 

Seamless Integration of EHR Expertise 

Jessica Fenchel, Senior Vice President and COO of Access Services, confirmed the profound impact of this partnership on their EHR optimization efforts. With enkompas on board, the architecture and optimization of their health record system became the focal point for driving strategic and tactical planning, while offering round-the-clock problem-solving solutions to their most pressing challenges. 

EHR Optimization Creates Swift Solutions and Treatments

Working in concert with Access, enkompas helped to tailor their EHR to the specific needs of their three lines of service, while also creating consistency across the agency. In addition, we facilitated the organizational and behavioral changes Access needed to make to drive the shift to EHR.  

Here are some of the outcomes Access has realized because of their EHR implementation.  

• Prompt Treatment Decisions: Staff gained faster access to EHR records, allowing them to be more efficient in their treatment decisions. 
• Holistic Well-Being: Collaborative healthcare approaches made possible by their EHR systems improved outcomes by fostering comprehensive well-being. The EHR system allowed for more cross-program collaboration and a greater focus on person-centered treatment plans.  
• Proactive Problem-Solving: enkompas’ forward-looking approach not only addressed existing issues at Access, but it also preemptively identified challenges and proactively delivered aligned solutions to them. We helped Access to identify and align EHR with the vision for staff roles and program goals for their records management. Workflows were developed to prompt cycling of assessment, health plans, interventions/services, re-assessments, and treatment reviews.  
• Seamless Collaboration: Effective collaboration is associated with improved clinical outcomes. The implementation made it possible to collaborate across departments, including referral, outreach, providers, leadership, incident reporting, and fiscal. 
• Error Reduction: Access experienced fewer note entry errors and decreased duplications of client records.  

Navigating IT & EHR Challenges with Expert Guidance 

When Access Services’ IT department found itself disorganized and lacking a unified vision, enkompas designed a comprehensive roadmap that not only addressed existing pain points but also transformed the entire IT environment to meet contemporary standards. Sue Steege, President and CEO at Access, acknowledges the pivotal role that enkompas Technology Solutions played in steering them through the complex realm of EHR challenges.  

Often, organizations can find themselves with a half-baked cake for an EHR system – where they’re underutilizing their system – due to a lack of ongoing optimization and strategic planning. enkompas enables agencies to focus on proactive processes and continuous improvement rather than reactive decision making in order to get the most out of their EHR. Here’s a peek at our approach. 

Proactive Partnerships for EHR Optimization 

Where enkompas is different from other EHR consulting companies is that we become partners with our clients, using our expertise to to implement and optimize their EHRs more smoothly and effectively. Not only does this help our clients “get it right the first time,” but it also gives them back their time and minimizes their frustrations. They can go back to focusing on delivering superior services instead of wasting time outside their clinical expertise.  

Two key principles allow enkompas to deliver on our promise:  

• Guided Transformation: enkompas’ partnerships go beyond ad hoc solutions. Access’s continuous roadmap elevated their entire IT ecosystem to contemporary standards. 
• Ongoing Excellence: Our partnerships are not a one-time intervention. They’re commitments to maintaining high standards of security and efficiency over time. 

Anticipating EHR Implementation & Optimization Challenges

Beyond responsiveness, our approach is about proactive collaboration that drives innovation and future preparedness to drive true change in care. Trust, transparency, and dedication are at the center of the relationship between Access Services and enkompas. Sue Steege emphasized that enkompas didn’t just address needs but anticipated challenges and brought forth recommendations that aligned with Access Services’ organizational and long-term goals. 

We know how essential it is for agencies to define quality metrics, streamline coordination, and remain focused on outcomes. Our forward-looking, integrated approach has cemented enkompas as a trusted partner in Access Services’ technological journey. 

Partnership Project Breakdown 

If you want to learn more than the high-level details of our partnership with Access, a detailed list of what we’re achieving, what we’re working on, and what we’re planning for can be found below. 

Access Services offers multiple programs within each of their three lines of service, Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Behavioral Health, and Children and Family Services. Access needed a solution that standardized their EHR and processes across these services.   

• Previous Accomplishments: 
  • Improved these functionalities: 
    • Referral management 
    • Resource family/foster or adoptive homes 
    • Call center 
    • Attendance 
  • Supported implementation and optimization of 25 programs in two years, which equates to roughly 58% of their systems and 15% net new programming. 
  • In a six-month timeframe, over 300 users for programs new to the EHR were onboarded and trained, in addition to standard turn-over user profile creation. enkompas provided the initial super user and end user trainings for go-lives. 

• Ongoing Goals: 
  • Custom Reporting and Virtual Views implementation to create visual graphs of client assessments, tracking outcomes and metrics. This includes:  
    • Ongoing EHR education across novice to power/super users 
    • Ongoing upgrades and test plans of releases 
    • Ongoing data governance support 
      • Anticipating scenarios and providing guidance on data quality. 
      • Developing protocols for sensitive scenarios. 
        • Examples: emergent restriction of client records, secure data sharing with external partners, auditing protocol, data retention policies, data breach response 
      • Incorporating solutions to support cross service line collaboration/coordination. 
      • Standardization of data collection, data uniformity/integrity across service lines 
    • Overall, shifting to smaller program optimization and turning focus to pulling data with BI team 
• Future Objectives: 
  • Implementing Bells AI, which is the first virtual clinical documentation assistant for the behavioral health and human services industry. 
  • Rolling out new program initiatives, including customized ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis), multi-faith mental health support, school-placement driven therapy.  

The Power of Strategic Partnerships to Leverage EHR and Drive True Change 

Our targeted approach with Access Services demonstrates the power of strategic partnerships in the realm of technology. From enhancing Electronic Health Record systems to revolutionizing IT infrastructure, enkompas has proven itself as more than a service provider – we’re a catalyst for growth and innovation. 

The impact of this partnership between Access and enkompas is evident, not only in the technology-driven efficiencies, but also in the elevated healthcare experiences Access Services provides. As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, collaborations like these will undoubtedly shape a brighter and more tech-savvy future. 

We encourage any organization seeking EHR optimization services or implementation to book your free consultation with our team or learn more about our full scope of EHR consulting and optimization services. We’ll evaluate your current environment and design a custom strategy that meets your unique needs and goals. 

About enkompas

enkompas powers your entire technology environment, working closely with your team to provide strategic IT solutions. With nearly 30 years of experience as a trusted managed IT services partner, our goal is to help you build a secure, scalable organizational roadmap. Contact us to find out how we can partner with your organization to increase efficiency and design an integrated technology environment that drives measurable business success.