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The ROI of Smart Training: 25% Reduction in Denials · Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

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Hello everyone, and welcome to this episode of
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the Becker's healthcare podcast. I am Reese,
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healthcare solutions director at UPerform, and I'm thrilled
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to be joined today by two outstanding guests
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from Access Community Health Network,
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a community rooted system of 35 healthcare centers,
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serving patients across Chicago
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and suburban Cook and DuPage Counties.
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First, we have Nicole Brady, IS training manager
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at Access.
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Nicole brings more than thirteen years of training
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experience
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along with remarkable talent for translating complex systems
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into clear
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confidence building learning experiences.
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We're also joined by Allison Holtman, EPIC ambulatory
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clinical principal trainer. With over fifteen years in
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the EPIC training world, Allison combines deep clinical
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workflow expertise
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with a passion for making learning approachable,
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meaningful,
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and engaging.
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Since joining access in 2021,
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she's been dedicated to designing innovative training models
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that empower staff
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and also
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elevate the patient experience.
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Access may be the region's largest federally qualified
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health center, but what truly sets it apart
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is its commitment to scaling provider and patient
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education with consistency
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and dedication,
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all powered by a small but mighty team.
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Nicole and Allison, thank you so much for
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being here today. Yeah. Happy to be here.
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Yeah. Thanks for having us.
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Fantastic. Let's dive into the conversation.
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I have to start with impact.
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Access has seen
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remarkable results,
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a 15 to 25%
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drop in denials,
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a 30%
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reduction in help desk requests,
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and over a hundred and thirty hours saved
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on prior authorizations
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each month.
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Nicole, starting with you, can you share what
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those numbers mean for your organization
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and how you achieve them?
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Yeah. I would love to. The results, as
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you had just said, are pretty impressive.
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Just to restate those statistics,
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since moving to that electronic prior authorization
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in 2024,
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we've seen a 15 to 25% drop in
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denials, a 30% reduction in help desk requests.
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And we're saving more than a hundred and
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thirty hours every single month, which allows our
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providers to really get back to those patients
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and provide excellent patient care. I'm gonna let
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Allison speak more about it since she is
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the one that created,
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the training for this.
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Fantastic.
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Yeah. The the impact is pretty crazy. So
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when we made that switch,
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it totally transformed the way our providers work.
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Today, about 99
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of our prior authorizations
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are done electronically.
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The difference is huge.
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What stands out the most is what that
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means for our patients. So
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faster authorizations
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mean fewer delays,
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less pharmacy frustration,
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and quicker access to the medications
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and services that they need. So for access
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patients
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who face the biggest barriers,
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those time savings
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really matter.
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And this didn't happen by accident. It was
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really the result of collaboration.
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We have a clinical informatics strategic group that
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creates a space for us as trainers, analysts,
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and operational frontline staff to get involved early
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in every process we roll out. We also
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had fantastic
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provider champions who helped us test workflows,
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gave us feedback, and talk things through with
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their colleagues.
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Yeah. I think really being brought in early
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helped us understand the why behind
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these projects and doing, you know, what we're
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doing.
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And that meant we could design training that
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solve problems before they even came up.
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Part of that was we built a hands
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on simulation
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that
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walks staff through the entire process from
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submitting the prior auth to responding to the
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payer
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and then getting that final approval or managing
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an appeal.
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And I think that was especially impactful because
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I was able to create that simulation with
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our analyst,
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and they're the ones that help with that
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payer interface. So the provider could really see
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the different workflows and get that back and
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forth sense of what it would be like
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at GOLAD,
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and that isn't something that's available in a
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training environment.
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So I'd say if anyone is thinking about
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doing something similar,
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my top three takeaways would be,
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collaborate early,
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keep that feedback flowing back and forth,
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and always design your training with the user
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and the why in mind.
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There's a synergy that I'm hearing here. As
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you and your teams collaborate and understand the
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why, what you move forward
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to your clinicians and staff is also understanding
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the why, really vital aspects of change management.
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I'm sure.
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And behind the scenes, I know something that
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many wouldn't know, and that is that these
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results came from a training team of just
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four.
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You you heard that right, folks. Just four
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people.
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How did your team manage to scale EPIC
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training across the organization
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so effectively with a team of that size?
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Lots of caffeine.
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But no. We learn how to work smarter.
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So when you're a team of four,
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you have to work very efficiently.
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So what we do to do that is
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we work with our analyst,
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to make sure we're involved early in the
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decision making process,
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which that does take educating
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those analysts to make sure you get invited
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to meetings to get involved early on so
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you can help shake shape workflows and training.
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And, you know, that helps us keep training
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aligned with real world workflows and keeping the
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why in everyone's mind, which makes training more
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effective and well rounded.
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We also reuse and centralize materials. So we're
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not starting from scratch every time. And bringing
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in UPerform has made a huge difference for
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us. It let us shift much of our
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training to virtual formats. And with 35 health
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centers, that's huge.
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Yeah. For sure.
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Before you perform,
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coordinating in person training
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for 35 health centers across Chicagoland was just
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a lot.
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We also plug training materials directly into Epic
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so our end users could access tip sheets
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and guides and and things that they needed,
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help with while they're with their patients.
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And that's been so convenient for everyone,
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including the patients.
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Exactly. And I would suggest creating templates for
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simulations,
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tip sheets, and guides because that allows you
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to keep a consistent learning experience and save
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time. A lot of our MAS cross train
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to the front desk, so it's good if
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everything looks the same no matter if you're
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an MA, front desk, provider.
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And housing everything in Epic's knowledge hub, which
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is what we call UPerform,
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and on the Internet also means users can
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find what they need without having to hunt
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them down and without having to really leave
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Epic.
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But, honestly, the best part is our team
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dynamic. We all bring different experiences
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with in person training, cross functional workflows,
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extensive epic knowledge. Some of us have worked,
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in health care, so that helps shape,
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when we think about how to train our
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end users because some of us have been
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those. And our team loves working together.
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The energy carries throughout everything we build, and
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we help each other
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no matter what. I I think most teams
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would benefit from that sort of synergy and
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dynamic, and I love the templated approach so
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important across your
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learning ecosphere
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in your organization.
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The next next question I wanna connect with
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you guys on, and this really impressed me
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when I saw your presentation in Dallas a
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few months ago.
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I feel like you have figured out a
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way to master
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MyChart,
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Care everywhere,
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Compass Rose
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aren't traditionally accessible in the epic training environments.
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Allison, how did how did you create that
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hands on realistic learning
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experiences for those tools?
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Yeah. Those those were tricky.
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So the challenge for us with
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Compass Rose and Care everywhere,
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things like that, is that we're an ambulatory
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only organization.
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So
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when we had to train,
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a Compass Rose workflow that relied on
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an admission or a discharge or some type
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of
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transition of care workflow,
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we had no way to do that in
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the training environment.
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Similar to, like, what I did with the
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electronic prior auth simulation,
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I really had to work and
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work with my analyst to help mock up
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some
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admission and discharge documentation
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at another local hospital.
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And that way, it made it look like
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our training patients had actually been admitted or
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discharged.
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So for Compass Rose, our care coordinators
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could
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review that admission
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or discharge information
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and then pick up their workflow
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and continue their documentation
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in the Compass Rose,
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framework.
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The, the other thing you mentioned was MyChart
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training. So here at ACCESS, we call it
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My Access Health,
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and that was kind of a fun one
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to do as well. So we didn't wanna
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just hand our staff a tip sheet on
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what
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my Access Health is, you know, and and
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have them explain it to the patient. So
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what we did was we made a simulation
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that let them became,
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become the patient so they could log in
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and do the simulation as a patient,
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from their perspective.
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And that totally changed troubleshooting.
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So our staff know exactly what the patients
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are looking at and can help walk them
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through those,
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those tools really confidently.
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And I think that is pretty cool and
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unique to us here at Access because I've
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never been shown anything about MyChart
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even by my own provider. It's just like,
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hey. Check your your MyChart. And no one
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has ever shown me what it is or
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how to use it. It's more of a
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figure it out on your own kind of
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thing. So allowing our staff to know what
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it looks like through the patient's eyes
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have allowed us to empower
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our patients,
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to be an active participant in their health
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care. And for me, the big takeaway is
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that training has to feel real. Work with
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your analysts to build out the interfaces and
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workflow so users are seeing exactly what they'll
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see in production.
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And if you can, mix things up. Let
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people experience workflows from a different perspective, which
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really deepens their understanding
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and allows for a better patient experience.
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Mhmm. I totally agree with that, Nicole. You
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know, I'm thinking as a patient, the only
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real education
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I have ever received about MyChart is a
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QR code and a reminder or an encouragement
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to download it and use it. I could
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see where a little more guidance,
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from staff or from my provider team,
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would be, would really stand out as a
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positive experience and, and probably would translate over
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to when I'm completing my post visit survey.
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You mentioned
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earlier that clinicians are saving
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15 to 20 minutes per authorization.
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When you add that up, it's more than
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one hundred and thirty hours every single month.
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What does that actually look like in practice
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and how has it changed clinician workflows or
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or even, again, the patient's experience
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at ACCESS?
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Yeah. You've mentioned the time savings. And one
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example that really sticks out to me is
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our regional medical director, doctor Sultana,
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who has has an impressive utilization rate of
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a 117%.
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So she is busy.
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So allowing her to save time
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with electronic prior authorizations has a big impact
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on her, allowing her to spend more time
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with her patients and really, you know, have
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that great patient care experience.
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Yeah. So I love working with doctor Sultana.
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She's one of our, provider champions. And
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she said the process is so quick and
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convenient,
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usually only about five minutes to,
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submit
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a prior auth request.
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And because everything is electronic,
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she can easily
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add labs, notes, or other
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clinical information
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to that prior authorization.
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She did say too, like, in most cases,
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decisions came back within thirty to forty minutes.
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Sometimes she could even wrap up,
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that authorization
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the same day.
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So for patients that are waiting on medication,
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that's a huge deal.
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And for clinicians, it means more time caring
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for patients and less time buried in paperwork
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and faxing things back and forth to insurance
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companies.
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Wow. That sounds like a win win to
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me. I love that. Yeah.
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Beyond the numbers, I'd love to zoom out.
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How has this training transformation
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influenced
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your staff's confidence,
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your leadership's confidence, leadership's perception of training,
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as a potential driver of ROI?
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Yeah. What I really love about this approach
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is how much flexibility it gives our team.
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We get to be creative with how we
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build training materials and offer them in different
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formats. So
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as many know,
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people learn in different ways, especially adults. So
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some learn by tip sheets. Some need that
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simulation
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to go ahead and,
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really get the workflow.
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It allows us also to respond to requests
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faster and work a lot more efficiently.
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And one of the big perks, I would
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say, is the data we get back from
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completed trainings. It gives us a clear idea
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of what's working,
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what might need tweaking, and where we might
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want to add a little more meat to
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a training document or simulation. We're able to,
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see how many hits we get so we
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know which tips, use, and simulations are working.
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And then maybe we can reach out to
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end users and ask, you know, what's not
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working about this and let us figure that
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out and make it better for you.
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Yeah. And I'd also say from the end
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user side, everything is so much easier to
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get to.
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Having the content right inside Epic means they
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don't have to dig through old SharePoint folders
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or, you know, old links or try to
14:57
remember where something was saved. It's all right
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there when they need it.
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And I also have to say the learning
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pathways
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have been such a game changer for us,
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especially for upgrade training.
15:09
It's made communication and instruction so much more
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simpler
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and more organized.
15:15
Compared to our old SharePoint setup, the the
15:18
new our Access Knowledge Hub site, it's clean,
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it's professional,
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it's interactive.
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It's just so much more put together.
15:27
And it really feels like a big step
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forward in how we push training out to
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our end users.
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And just to loop back to to leadership,
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I think all of this has helped leadership
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and frontline staff see just how much training
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contributes to real outcomes.
15:42
It allows for better efficiency,
15:44
fewer barriers, and ultimately better care for our
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patients. With utilizing UPerform, we have seen an
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increase in users utilizing tip sheets and simulations
15:53
than we have ever before.
15:55
That's incredible.
15:57
As we look forward, I know your team
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is always thinking about what's next. What is
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next for your team as you continue building
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on this momentum?
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And how do you plan to keep pushing
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the boundaries of efficient and impactful training?
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Yeah. Looking ahead, our team is gonna be
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tightly connected to our organization's strategic initiatives.
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And with UPerform,
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being a big part of how we create
16:21
training, it allows us to support that at
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scale.
16:24
We can more efficiently,
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with UPerform,
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allow access to get initiatives done in a
16:30
more timely manner. And I think what's really
16:33
important is that we keep coming back to
16:35
our three guiding principles.
16:37
Collaborate early. So building those strong relationships between
16:41
trainers, analysts, and clinicians right from the start
16:44
makes a huge difference. When everyone is connected,
16:46
we can design training that actually solves real
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day to day challenges
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and stays aligned with what the organization is
16:54
trying to accomplish.
16:56
Yeah. And definitely, you know, keeping that feedback
16:59
open.
17:00
Having established work groups, and clear communication between
17:04
IS and our clinical teams
17:06
really gives,
17:07
providers a voice.
17:09
And it it helps us spot pain points
17:12
early, and then we can work together
17:14
to create solutions that actually make a difference.
17:18
And something I really, really believe in and
17:21
cannot stress enough is you need to understand
17:23
the why. So as a trainer, you can
17:26
design user centered and practical training.
17:29
When you really understand the why behind a
17:31
change or implementation
17:33
challenge, you're able to design practical targeted training
17:36
that actually supports end users and ultimately helps
17:39
improve patient care.
17:41
And those principles have carried us this far,
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and they'll keep shaping how we work in
17:46
the future.
17:48
This has been such an inspiring conversation. I
17:51
really
17:52
appreciate the sharing of those guiding principles, collaborate
17:55
early,
17:56
open feedback,
17:57
understanding the why.
17:59
Your team has proven and really proves that
18:01
smart, efficient your team has proven and really
18:04
proves that smart, efficient training, even with your
18:05
limited resource can drive massive operational and clinical
18:08
impact.
18:09
Nicole and Allison, thank you for sharing your
18:11
insight, your experiences, and the incredible work happening
18:15
at Access Community Health Network. And thanks to
18:17
all of you for listening.
18:19
That wraps up today's episode of the Becker's
18:22
Healthcare Podcast.
18:23
This podcast is sponsored by UPerform.
18:26
UPerform is a just in time learning platform
18:29
that bolts onto your EHR,
18:32
ERP,
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HCM,
18:34
and other enterprise apps to centralize
18:37
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18:39
You can tune into more podcasts from Becker's
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Healthcare by visiting the Becker's podcast page at
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beckershospitalreview.com.
18:47
Thanks to both of you so much. Thank
18:49
you.