Hospital-Based CAC 2014
Minimizing the Productivity Gap

WORTH KNOWING 

3M, OPTUM NOT DELIVERING ONEXPECTATIONS, BUT IMPROVINGWITH TIME LIVE.

Providers choose 3M primarily for their CAC+CDI offering and choose Optum for an NLP they perceive as being more advanced. Customers reported high optimism for ICD-10 readiness due to historical performance (3M), a web-based solution (Optum), and strong dual coding (both). However, both vendors have challenges delivering anticipated productivity gains for most clients.With 3M, disappointing implementation resources and unmet timelines increase project costs. With Optum, ongoing support is challenging, and clients do not always receive at go-live all of the NLP capabilities they saw in the product demo. Customers that have been live for more than two years report improvements due to overcoming the learning curve and fine-tuning the system.

DOLBEY AND NUANCE: SUPPORT,COLLABORATION DRIVE STRONGEARLY PERFORMANCE.

Dolbey and Nuance have grown in the CAC market and deliver strong collaboration and support. Due to good usability and a shorter learning curve, Nuance has the highest percentage of clients who have achieved productivity gains, though not all clients have Nuance widely deployed throughout the hospital. A majority of the early Dolbey and Precyse clients interviewed also reported productivity gains. However, Dolbey and Nuance customers still want to see more developed NLP engines and functionality. Precyse’s performance is mixed; some clients reported positive results, while some reported productivity struggles with the inpatient CAC. 

BOTTOM LINE: 

Almost half of customers chose 3M without considering other solutions because of successful past relationships and confidence in 3M’s innovation and technology. However, interface challenges and missed timelines have led to difficult implementations and unmet client expectations; the availability and experience of 3M’s support are not meeting provider needs. Declining performance over the past year leveling off as 360 Encompass System matures in client organizations; more are seeing improvements in productivity. 

BOTTOM LINE: 

Optum often chosen for perceived advanced NLP that can address both inpatient and outpatient coding. Overall satisfaction scores have trended upward over past year, and many are optimistic about the web-based solution. However, some providers are unsuccessful in replicating the bells and whistles of Optum’s well-tuned demo. Product downtime and lack of communication/collaboration present challenges for some clients, with ongoing service/support the biggest challenge for providers in this report. Optum implementations are improving but not yet great.

BOTTOM LINE: 

Customers see Dolbey’s Fusion CAC as a simple, solid product that requires a lot of fine-tuning through long implementations. Dolbey is praised by their customers for their support and willingness to adapt the system. Weekly meetings and strong communication seen as contributing to success.

BOTTOM LINE: 

Live in only a handful of organizations, but not all with inpatient coding. Providers mainly mention Nuance’s weekly collaboration and great communication. Some Nuance customers have seen improvements in productivity. Several mentioned Nuance’s support and consistent resources as strengths, but most want improvements to the technology.

BOTTOM LINE: 

Few live hospitals. Precyse is inconsistent in delivery of promised expectations. Most providers gaining in productivity, but primarily inancillary areas. Greatest productivity challenges most often occur once inpatient coding is live.

Project Manager
Robert Ellis