Houston Methodist is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the No. 1 hospital in Texas and among the top 20 hospitals nationwide. Houston Methodist is the only nationally ranked Honor Roll hospital in the state and is designated as a Magnet hospital for excellence in nursing.
Business Objectives
Houston Methodist wanted to improve access and collaboration of care between the health system’s orthopedic and sports medicine providers and the athletic trainers that support nearly 800 public school athletics programs in the greater Houston area.
Challenge
With the number of schools and volume of student athletes in the area, it was important to deliver a highly adaptable solution that could be used in a variety of settings. The solution also needed to provide real-time access to provider schedules and allow for bidirectional data sharing to ensure that athletes obtained the necessary care and were approved to return to their athletic program.
Resolution
By equipping every school athletics professional with a personalized portal, schools are now able to establish an appointment from within a designated network of providers by identifying the ideal physician based on speciality, availability, proximity to the patient’s home, ability to accept the student’s insurance, and speak the student’s preferred language.
Due to Blockit’s deep integration with Houston Methodist’s Epic infrastructure, school staff can interact with Houston Methodist providers in a user friendly and quick manner. Within the experience athletic staff can add specific notes, attach critical documents, and even submit pictures of the injury all without leaving the playing field.
Result
Beyond the positive impact this effort has had on the region’s young athletes, the specific measures are astounding. Referrals scheduled on the playing field are being completed in 3.2 minutes and athletes are being seen by providers in two days or less without ever having to send a phone call or a fax. Blockit’s Epic integration eliminates the need for dedicated staff to facilitate schools’ requests.
All the data required to effectively book an appointment and receive necessary information back to the student and their parents gets shared immediately. Athletic staff also have the ability to monitor the status of the athlete’s appointment and receive automated authorization for return to play.Depending on the season and the intensity of the team, Houston Methodist now sees an average of 100 students per month. That number continues to grow as the system expands their use-cases to include intramural, professional, and dance organizations as well.