19% improvement in outcomes scores

Client Challenge

Freeman Health is a 460-bed, three-hospital system representing 60 specialties, including inpatient, outpatient, and home health rehabilitation. With MedBridge, Freeman Health System set out to achieve the following objectives:

Increase staff engagement and the number of CEUs earned per clinician
Provide easier access and greater flexibility to help clinicians maintain licensure
Elevate quality and consistency of care among clinicians and across locations
Save on costs of continuing education and home exercise program investment
Improve health outcomes and patient satisfaction

MedBridge Solution

Freeman Health System has leveraged MedBridge to reduce costs and improve outcomes through:

Consolidating different products for continuing education and patient engagement to the all-in-one MedBridge platform
Offering convenient access to high-quality, ongoing professional development opportunities via MedBridge
Engaging patients with video-based home exercise programs assigned via MedBridge
Streamlining management and consistency of clinical education across all locations
Improving communication between clinicians and staff across all locations
Leveraging the assistance of a dedicated account manager

Staff Engagement and Retention

“Our staff is more engaged since partnering with MedBridge. The consistency in education and training has created continuity and makes for a more collegial environment, making it easier for clinicians to change specialties,” says Chris Peterson, PT, DPT, OCS, Freeman Physical Therapist and Rehabilitation Services Clinical Coordinator. “Of the 25 employees in my division, we had a 100% retention rate while using MedBridge in 2015.”

Financial Savings

Freeman has seen cost savings across the board since switching to MedBridge by consolidating their different products to the all-in-one solution for staff empowerment, patient engagement, and business management.

Patient Engagement

By partnering with MedBridge, Freeman discontinued use of their previous HEP provider. In doing so, the company eliminated $6,500 in costs and improved the patient experience. Freeman saw a 15% improvement in their cancellation and no-show rate.

Quality and Consistency of Care

MedBridge was a significant contributing factor to the increase in outcomes ranking. After implementing MedBridge, Freeman saw a 19% increase in their national ranking in FOTO, rising from 41st percentile to 60th. In addition, the Freeman clinicians are “speaking the same language” since using MedBridge, and management has noticed that there is more continuity of care.

Staff Empowerment

Freeman used to pay for CEUs by the hour and paid as much as $750 per clinician in 2009. Now all the CEUs are part of the MedBridge annual subscription, and from June ‘15 -‘16 alone, the organization watched 1,672 hours of CE courses.

Patient Satisfaction

“Our patient satisfaction numbers are up across the board since partnering with MedBridge,” says Chris Peterson. Of the Freeman patients who responded, over 95% have found the MedBridge home exercise program helpful in their rehabilitation.

About Freeman Health System

Freeman Health System is a 460-bed, three-hospital system providing comprehensive healthcare and behavioral health services to an area that includes more than 450,000 people from Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. They employ 93 rehabilitation professionals across multiple locations. Freeman Health System offers outpatient therapy from six locations in three cities, providing treatment for pediatrics, lymphedema, sports, spine, hand therapy, general outpatient orthopedic, work injury therapy, and neurological care. Additionally, Freeman Health System offers inpatient therapies in each of their three hospitals, including a 20-bed inpatient rehabilitation facility. Seventeen athletic trainers help to cover 20 local high schools and five colleges. Home health services are provided to eight counties across two states.