About BrightView Health
BrightView provides local addiction treatment to people who want to recover in their home communities. The outpatient-only model pairs a patient-focused and evidence-based approach with the compassion and commitment to improve as many lives as possible. BrightView combines medical treatment with psychological therapy and social services to give patients the comprehensive support to achieve long-term recovery. Today, BrightView has over 25,000 patients under care and offers its proven treatment model across seven states with 90 centers.
Background
Unlike most other facilities, BrightView operates without waitlists and treats all patients—regardless of their insurance status. Because time is a major barrier to care, BrightView’s team has worked tirelessly to mitigate barriers for patients seeking treatment.
While a significant number of BrightView patients qualify for Medicaid and have access to transportation benefits, Medicaid mandates a 48-72 hour advanced booking for transportation services. In critical moments, when a patient requires immediate assistance, waiting for 48-72 hours is not feasible. Consequently, BrightView instituted a transportation program to eliminate this initial intake barrier.
BrightView offers rides for the initial intake and potentially the first couple of appointments until the clinical team onsite connects them to ongoing resources, such as Medicaid benefits or community resources.
“Our biggest measure of success when it comes to transportation is having the ability to get the patient in the door as soon as possible.”
Michele Sweeney, Vice President of Patient Services, BrightView
Challenge
The Patient Access Center serves as the centralized intake hub for BrightView, handling all incoming calls related to corporate matters, individual clinics, and patients seeking admission into treatment, scheduling appointments, or requesting assistance. With 40 full-time employees, three managers, and a director, the center manages over 8,000 weekly inbound requests through phone calls, website chats, and emails. This dedicated team oversees various patient needs, from rescheduling appointments and medication refills to guiding initial treatment intakes, utilizing a structured workflow with predefined processes and scripts.
As BrightView expanded, the existing rideshare solution used for transportation began to break, especially in rural communities. This increased the burden for Patient Access Center agents, frustrated center staff with inconsistencies, and was a poor experience for patients seeking care.
- Coordination Burden: The real-time nature of rideshare necessitates support, especially if a patient encounters difficulties connecting with a driver, potentially requiring dispatching. This added responsibility placed an increasing burden on the Patient Access Center, now providing support to multiple clinics.
- Rural Transportation: Further complicating matters, as BrightView extended its reach beyond Cincinnati to areas like Batavia or Centerville, where rideshare options were limited. The team required a solution capable of supporting more rural areas and tapping into taxi services that catered to the geographic locations where patients resided.
- Administrative Burden: The tracking of transportation spend and utilization by clinic was becoming progressively challenging for leadership attempting to assess the program’s impact. Streamlining this administrative aspect became a priority for efficient program management.
Solution
In October 2020, BrightView forged a strategic partnership with Roundtrip to elevate their patient transportation program. Within the dynamic guided workflow, patient access specialists adeptly navigate the collection of demographics and the construction of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) charts. An interactive map displays the nearest BrightView locations and indicates mileage, ensuring that the provided rides adhere to OIG regulations. Roundtrip is the designated platform for all clinics, streamlining the ride booking process by incorporating both rideshare options and a community of transportation providers, thereby expanding choices when rideshare is unavailable.
While the Patient Access Center constitutes the primary user group, access to the platform is also extended to the Operations teams at each clinic. In instances where a patient finds themselves stranded at a clinic without transportation, clinic staff can directly coordinate without necessitating a call to patient access, with the entire process seamlessly tracked for efficient management.
“It’s the right thing to do, and that has always been the guidance. Take care of the patient.”
Michele Sweeney, Vice President of Patient Services, BrightView
Impact
Since its initial launch, Roundtrip and BrightView have successfully completed over 62,000 rides for more than 22,000 individual riders. The introduction of Roundtrip has resulted in significant advantages:
- Efficiency & Positive Staff Feedback: Juggling various responsibilities, BrightView staff and medical practitioners have found scheduling through Roundtrip to be a time-saving boon. Administrators, in turn, benefit from detailed reports that provide insights into scheduled and completed rides, ride reasons, and types, contributing to substantial time savings on reporting for leadership.
- Ride Fulfillment: Roundtrip’s platform seamlessly integrates Uber, Lyft, and taxi services into a unified workflow. 8-12% of rides fall outside traditional rideshare service areas. Roundtrip’s 24/7 Navigation Center plays a crucial role in connecting patients with drivers when missed connections occur. By broadening access to a diverse range of transportation options and closely monitoring rides to ensure patients reach their destinations, the platform has significantly enhanced ride fulfillment.
- Improved Appointment Adherence: In the six months preceding Roundtrip implementation, BrightView enrolled 7,186 unique patients, with a 38.18% adherence rate to initial intake appointments. Post-implementation, the numbers increased with 9,103 unique patients and a 40.49% appointment adherence rate. Notably, 27.45% of these unique patients received Roundtrip rides, indicating a positive impact on appointment attendance.
Looking Ahead
The integration of Roundtrip for scheduling and overseeing rides for patients facing transportation challenges has significantly improved the operational efficiency of BrightView’s Patient Access Center. It has concurrently alleviated administrative burdens for leadership. The Roundtrip platform empowers Patient Access Specialists and on-site clinic teams with real-time visibility, allowing for adaptive ride adjustments as necessary. Positive responses from both staff and patients further validate the program’s success. As BrightView grows, Roundtrip remains the chosen transportation platform for this transformative journey.
