Back in Action Therapy optimizes CPT coding by 60%, boosts compliance by 20% with Insight

Back In Action Therapy, a growing physical therapy practice with 11 skilled therapists, has been on the leading edge of integrating technology into their workflow. Spearheaded by owner Derek Halladay and his co-owner Matt Hoyt, the practice decided to implement Prompt Insight (formerly PredictionHealth's Practice Intel) platform after hearing from colleagues in the industry about their successes with the platform.

In only a few months after adopting Insight, Back In Action witnessed their company compliance score soar from 69 to an impressive 83/100. Additionally, the practice experienced a 17% decrease in Therapeutic Exercise (TE) usage paired with a remarkable 60% increase in Therapeutic Activity (TA) usage in a mere two months.

Room to improve

When Derek and his team started using Insight in February of 2023, Derek felt there was room to improve in 3 key areas: 

1. Therapists' access to objective metrics: Previously, therapists' performance assessments relied largely on input from Derek and Matt, rather than data-driven insights. This took time away from the management team, and limited bandwidth to focus on other key areas of the business. It also made the process of transferring actionable data to therapists clunky.
2. Coding inefficiencies: Newer Back in Action therapists were often unfamiliar with CPT coding best practices, posing a risk for Medicare audits and leaving revenue on the table. As a result, management had to spend a lot of time coaching all new hires to make sure they were on the right track.
3. Documentation compliance: Documentation practices of the group weren't a huge problem yet, but Derek knew there was some room for improvememnt in both compliance and efficiency in daily documentation.

Data-driven objectivity

The Insight platform empowered therapists to directly view their objective performance data, both in documentation compliance and also coding diversification and efficiency. This transparency made it easier for therapists to trust the data, as it wasn't coming filtered through the management team.

"The data talks without us having to," Derek said. "This kind of automation and insight is a huge advantage, and is a significant time savings in data gathering and delivery." 

Gamified improvement without more work

Insight's design enables therapists to see all the necessary data in a matter of minutes. "When you bring something like this into the workflow, an initial concern can be that it will create more work," Derek said. "However, with [Insight] that isn't the case. And for some, it's actually helping therapists to do less work through the over-documentation tracking tool."

For Derek's team, "the gamification of the program brings encouragement and excitement rather than deflation or extra burden. The Documentation Compliance audit scoring has been instrumental in driving change in the therapists' documentation practices," he said.

For instance, if a therapist has a compliance score of 73 and then it improves next month to 78, that visible progress has been a "morale booster, and encourages therapists to continuously refine their documentation proccesses."

Derek's clinics experienced immediate results. Back in Action's overall company compliance score was an average of 69/100 before starting with Insight, which is a "Significant Risk of Audit Failure" according to Insight's standards.

After implementing Insight in February 2023, Back in Action's audit risk score quickly climbed to 74 in February, 79 in March, and climbed to 83 (a "Good" risk status) by June of 2023.

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Improved coding practices

Insight's CPT coding and coding efficiency analysis tools have played a critical role in educating new therapists about best practices, which has led to improved coding diversification and increased revenue for Back in Action.

"Therapists typically are not receiving quality guidance in PT school about best practices in billing/coding efficiency," Derek said. "They may utilize 4 unites of Therapeutic Exercise or 4 units of Therapeutic Activity in a visit, instead of diversifying the coding. Poor diversification can lead to undesirable reimbursement, but it can also become a red flag for Medicare to select that provider for an audit."

After focusing on Documentation Compliance over the first 2 months on the platform, Back in Action prioritized looking into CPT coding compliance. Specifically, they looked into the company's overall use of Therapeutic Exercise (TE) vs. Therapeutic Activity (TA).

Back in Action averaged 42.8% TE and 14.2% TA from November 2022 to March 2023. After doubling down on Insight's coding analytics, Back in Action averaged 35.7% TE and 22.8% TA, representing a 17% reduction in TE use and a 60% in TA use.

Conclusion

For Derek and the team at Back in Action, Insight has proven to be more than just a software solution. It's become an integral part of their practice management strategy, empowering therapists and significantly reducing adminstrative burdens. Through objective analysis, efficient information consumption, and continuous performance improvement, Insight has redefined what it means to be a data-driven physical therapy practice.

To learn how Insight could help your practice do the same, schedule a demo today.