ECIN To Implement ExtendCareProfessional At All 12 Centura Health Hospitals In Colorado

Case management automation streamlines discharge process and payor communication, increasing departmental efficiency and patient satisfaction

Chicago, IL - Case management technology provider ECIN announced that Englewood-based Centura Health System has expanded ECIN's comprehensive Web-based Discharge Planning, Case Management and Payor Review system to the care management departments at all 12 Centura Health hospitals.

ECIN's, or Extended Care Information Network, Inc. the ExtendedCare Professional system is a powerful workflow automation tool that enables healthcare organizations to decrease patient length-of-stay, enhance throughput, while improving patient and family satisfaction. ExtendedCare Professional connects hospitals with a database of more than 85,000 extended-care providers including nursing homes and other senior-living facilities, home healthcare agencies, DME companies, transportation providers and community-based post-acute services.

Using ExtendedCare Professional, the Centura Health case managers will streamline case management daily activities, eliminate paper documents and automate communication with payors, post acute providers and hospital teams. ExtendedCare Professional™ will be implemented to the case management staffs at Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville, Littleton Adventist Hospital in Littleton, Parker Adventist Hospital in Parker, Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver, Penrose Community Hospital in Colorado Springs, Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs, St. Francis Hospital in Colorado Springs, St. Mary-Corwin Hospital in Pueblo,St. Thomas More Hospital in Canon City, St. Anthony Central Hospital in Denver, St. Anthony North Hospital in Westminster, and St. Anthony Summit Medical Center in Frisco. Centura Health expects to have the ExtendedCare Professional™ system implemented in January of 2005.

Todd Folkenberg, assistant vice president of Patient Financial Services at Centura Health, expects a return on investment measured in productivity and patient satisfaction. "We look forward to deepening the ECIN and Centura Health business partnership. Our goal is to improve the discharge process and overall communication with post acute care providers and payors, leading to better continuity of patient care across our system. By automating the entire process, we expect to decrease the manual time and effort involved in completing paper-based forms and communicating via fax and phone to our post acute care providers, leaving more time for our clinical staff to focus on patient care."

ECIN President and CEO Jeff Surges said, "We are delighted to add such a prestigious organization to our ExtendedCare Professional client base. As one of the leading health systems in the country, Centura Health is looked to as a technology leader. We look forward to working with Centura and many others in Colorado to automate manual processes such as discharge planning and payor communication. Our technology and client services staff will ensure a quick and smooth implementation, insuring that Centura will achieve these benefits in a very short time-frame."

SOURCE: ECIN