Hospital prepares to implement new information system

Nevada Regional Medical Center will hold off for two extra months on the "go live" date for the new Meditech Information Technology System after a mid-project assessment in early July. The system integrates all of the hospitals information in one system that handles patient information, insurance billing, inventory, payroll, and all other functions.

"After extensive review and discussion we determined it best to push the go-live date to November first to ensure a smooth system transition," NRMC CEO Judy Feuquay said. "This decision should improve training opportunities and provide for a more complete testing of the system."

The board worked with Dr. Scott Compton at a special meeting and offered him employment on a full-time basis after he announced he would be closing his practice. Compton agreed and will continue to practice at the same location under the auspices of the NRMC Orthopedic Specialty Services clinic.

Feuquay told the board that physician recruitment was always going to be an on-going concern that would have to be kept in mind. She presented the board an article from Thomson Reuters that said the baby boom generation was causing a greater need for services at the same time baby boom generation physicians were retiring creating a doctor shortage of 24,000 by 2020.

"Physician recruitment is not going to go away, you saw the fact file on physician staffing," Feuquay said. "It is going to be something everyone has to deal with for a long time."

Feuquay told the board the hospital had given employee bonuses for the first time on June 27. Part-time employees received $75, full-time employees received $150, and department heads and operation team members were given $200.

"We are very pleased that we were able to share the tremendously successful year with all our staff and want to thank them for their service and quality care they provide our patients," Feuquay said.

The board had good news from the medical liability provider, a refund of $80,245 from Healthcare Services Group along with a rate decrease of roughly 7 percent for non-physician related hospital professional liability exposures and 2 percent for physician related exposures.

During CFO Cindy Buck's presentation she told the board that the hospital's finances were in good shape and the hospital was in the process of preparing for the changeover to the new information system. The board approved a contract with Perot Systems to clear old commercial account receivables before the changeover so the hospital's employees could concentrate on working on the new system in preparation for the changeover and not have to switch back and forth between systems. The contract calls for Perot employees to work out of the hospital's billing office for the next six to eight months and be paid 10.31 percent of collected revenues. Buck estimated the cost at $500,000.

Buck also told the board the hospital was doing well and admissions were higher than anticipated leading to a higher than anticipated net income. She also told the board a change in accounting procedures led to a one-time increase in net income. Over the past year the hospital has provided $1.5 million in charity care for the community.