National Spine Network

SpineChart’s Benefits

Not all physicians will want to take advantage of everything that SpineChart has to offer. Although the cost to license SpineChart from NSN is the same each year regardless of which features you use, the amount of computer hardware you may need depends on which capabilities you want and how you want your patient flow to proceed. For example; you could accomplish all the following with a single stand-alone computer.

• Collect outcomes data from just your surgical patients;
• Maintain your own surgical database;
• Participate in the NSN national Outcomes registry;
• Perform analysis or research on your own practice data.

On the other hand, if you wanted all patients to complete the ASPIN patient interview and have access to the clinical portions of SpineChart from every examination room, then determining how much hardware you will need depends on patient volumes and office layout.

Therefore, SpineChart’s benefits will depend on the functions you choose to implement. Below we have identified some of the most common and most valued benefits.

Reduce transcription costs

The average spine surgeon spends between $10,000 and $30,000 annually on medical transcription costs alone. In initial pilot tests, SpineChart reduced medical transcription by 50% to 100%. For the average spine care physician, reducing or eliminating this cost alone means that SpineChart typically pays for the cost of SCRC membership.

Reduce dictation time

SpineChart is designed to minimize the need for the physician to dictate. Chart notes and other documentation are produced from the information captured directly from patients, clinical assistants and the physician. By design, the need for free-form text is kept to a minimum while still producing a complete and professional chart note and/or referral letter. When supplemental free-form information is required, it can be entered by typing or using a commercially available voice dictation software package.

Reduce physician time spent during the patient visit

The Automated Spine Patient Interview (ASPIN) draws from a large repository of possible questions covering the patient’s chief complaint, history of present illness, pain and functional status, past medical history and review of systems. The patient is only asked those questions that relate specifically to their problem. ASPIN is able to delve much deeper into the patient’s specific problem than a paper intake form and includes many of the questions that you ask during your initial patient interview. The ASPIN report, which is presented to you prior to the encounter, follows a consistent format that quickly identifies the areas for the you to focus your examination.

Improve the completeness and consistency of the examination process

Patients who complete ASPIN are required to answer all the questions that are pertinent to their specific problem and/or to particular studies in which they are enrolled. The costs associated with data monitoring in clinical studies are reduced significantly and patients are not lost to studies due to missing data.

Reduce documentation turnaround time

Physicians often wait 24 hours to several days after an encounter for their dictation to be transcribed. This delays the prior authorization process, disrupt your administrative work-flow and costs your practice time and money. SpineChart can produce all patient documentation immediately or at the end of the day.

Since your chart note can be produced immediately after seeing the patient, you can often get prior authorization the same day.

Improve the quality of your documentation for billing or legal reasons

Busy physicians who dictate every chart note may occasionally omit important elements from their dictation. To keep costs down, they may intentionally minimize their documentation. SpineChart documentation is always complete and consistent for each patient.

Collect patient outcome data

Many physicians want to track the progress of their own patients; However, collecting patient outcomes using paper forms requires a significant commitment of administrative resources. SpineChart makes this task almost painless.

Maintain your own surgical database

Many physicians want to maintain their own surgical database. Some have designed their own. SpineChart provides a comprehensive, yet simple to use database for your own personal use.

Participate in a national outcomes registry

SCRC membership includes voluntary participation in NSN’s Spine Outcomes Registry.

Participate in paperless, multi-center clinical trials

Many community-based physicians would welcome the opportunity to participate in multi-center clinical trials. SCRC membership can provide you with opportunities for collegial relationships with leading research-oriented physicians and participation in both government funded and commercially sponsored clinical trials

Demonstrate your commitment to continuous quality improvement to payers

It is difficult for insurance companies to identify the appropriate spine care providers for their network. Unfortunately, we all know that cost, drives a lot of their decisions. But many are recognizing that in spine care, issues like unnecessary imaging and inappropriate surgeries are much more important than price.

It is always difficult to demonstrate the quality of care provided Membership in the Spine Care Research Consortium will give you the opportunity to associate with the research leaders in the field and a demonstrate your commitment to continuous quality improvement.