Q. How is ProtoHIT different from other workers’ compensation applications?

A. Other workers’ compensation applications focus on automating the submission of claims, handling billing, managing collections or supporting practice management. They generally don’t provide treatment guidelines, tools to improve communication with employers and measuring treatments in one system. The main objective of these applications is payment collection, scheduling and cost reduction. While we’ll help reduce your costs, the primary benefit is the focus on patient treatments, injured worker reporting, and benchmarking treatment outcomes.

Q. How is ProtoHIT different from an EMR system?

A. EMR systems track and manage all health-related patient interactions and records. ProtoHIT focuses only on workers’ compensation patients, on a per claim basis. EMR systems generally do not provide treatment guidelines; ProtoHIT does. EMR systems do not communicate any information outside of the clinic, as this patient information is protected under HIPAA. Patient records are extremely confidential. ProtoHIT, on the other hand, collects data that needs to be shared with the employer, like RTW dates and MMI goals, outstanding cases, and information to help the employer address unique injury trends. EMR systems generally do not measure treatment outcomes. For ProtoHIT, measurement is a critical part of the product.

The fact that a clinic’s ProtoHIT system is separate from their EMR system is important. Employers have a right to some information in the ProtoHIT system, but never to a clinic’s EMR system. This helps protect your information from unauthorized access.

Q. Can other clinics see our clinic’s patient info?

A. No. Each clinic is run on an independent virtual server with a customer specific database and unique security keys for access.

Q. How does ProtoHIT keep their protocols up to date?

A. We’re working with ACOEM (American College of Environmental and Occupational Medicine) to ensure our protocols are consistent with best practices. We currently are compliant with version 3 of the ACOEM guidelines.

Q. How are your protocols different from the ACOEM guidelines?

A. ACOEM’s guidelines are generally based on empirical research. ProtoHIT’s protocols are based on actual outcomes over 12,000 actual cases with 50,000 patient encounters. This isn’t to say anything negative about evidence-based medicine, which the ACOEM guidelines provide. Rather, it is to say we take a more outcomes approach. The combination of evidence-based and outcomes-based medicine can be quite powerful.

Q. Why would I use your protocols when I can use ACOEM’s Practice Guidelines and the APG-I portal to the occupational medicine practice guidelines?

A. ACOEM provides extremely comprehensive, high quality information; however, there is also a lot of it. The ACOEM APG-I portal is a way to find something quickly rather than hunt throughout their three volumes. ACOEM is very complementary to our system, and why we have integrated their practice guidelines into our protocols. In addition, we add case management tools, reports and treatment measurement.

Q. Who would use the ProtoHIT software in our clinic?

A. It really depends on the workflow in your clinics.  Most likely it will be the occupational nurses. But it is also useful for the treating physician during a patient visit. Our estimate is that the use is more 80% nurses, 20% physicians.  It can also be used by the clinic’s administrative staff, to add notes and pull billing information.

Q. How does ProtoHIT fit into the clinic’s current workflow?

A.Our goal is to fit into existing operations, not disrupt them. That’s why we review our customers’ workflow before any implementation, ensuring everyone understands what, where, and how. We should make our users’ lives easier, not more complex. Thus, we greatly reduce the amount (and duplication) of paper generated by the typical workers’ comp claim. A typical customer set-up takes only a few hours, including user training. Remember, nurses are always key to any healthcare IT implementation (as noted in this article).

Q. Is ProtoHIT a case management system?

A. ProtoHIT offers some case management features but that is not our core focus. We help a clinic by providing treatment guidelines, facilitating communications with the clinic’s employers, and providing measurement tools to track patient outcomes.

Q. What about security? If it’s on the Web, what keeps anybody from being able to see the data?

A. We provide 256-bit AES encryption between the browser and the web server preventing interception on the Internet. Each clinic’s virtual server is separate with unique security keys. In addition, each clinic runs its own private database, which cannot be accessed by anyone outside of the clinic.

ProtoHIT hosts our software on one of the industry’s most secure and reliable networks, Amazon Web Services (AWS). They maintain the servers, the reliability, the access over the Internet, the power, etc. Amazon Web Services is SAS-70 Type II audited and ISO 27001 certified, which means they have demonstrated that they have an industry-approved level of controls and safeguards when they host data belonging to their customers.

Q. What about data back-up?

A. We do that automatically for you. In the case of an outage, we can get another virtual server up and running very quickly (with your data), usually in less than an hour.

Q. Are you HIPAA compliant?

A.  Currently workers’ compensation claims are not covered under HIPAA, but ProtoHIT believes the same level of privacy expected in patient records should be extended to workers’ compensation.

Q. What other hardware and software do I need?

A. Because ProtoHIT is a web-based application, all you need is a browser and a PC, Mac or iPad.

Q. How long does it take to get up and running?

A. When you sign up, ProtoHIT sets up a virtual dedicated server for your use. You access it with a browser to a URL that will be something like http://yourname.protohit.net. This setup takes just a few hours.

Q. How much training is required for a clinic to begin using the system?

A. About 2-3 hours. On-line help provides complete documentation whenever it is needed.

Q. What about customer support?

A. Users can click on an email link (shown on every application screen) to send us an email and we’ll see it almost immediately. Our goal is to acknowledge any suggestions, questions or issues within two hours and resolve any issues with 24. Clinics can also call our 800 number (800-798-2660) and a real person will answer.

Q. How much does can we save by using ProtoHIT?

A. The national average medical cost per claim is $7000. Over time ProtoHIT can save you about 15%, or about $1000 savings per case.

Q. How much does it cost?

A. There is a flat one-time set-up fee and then you can either 1) pay per new claim or 2) pay per employee. Both are billed monthly. There are no annual contracts or cancellation charges. You only pay for what you use. We like to keep it simple.

Q. What does it take to get started?

A.  Give us a call.  We’ll discuss your clinic’s operations, get key information from you (such as authorized users), and then we’ll set up your virtual server.  User training takes a couple of hours (and we also provide online documentation).  Total time you spend on implementation will be about three to five hours.  As with other Web-based software, there is a standard End User Licensing Agreement (EULA) for your signature, but it’s relatively short, with a minimum of legal jargon.

Q. What if we decide we want to quit using the system at some point? Can we get our data?

A. ProtoHIT can send the patient data, upon written service cancellation, in a .CSV file.  CSV can be read by all spreadsheets and most database applications.

For more product information, check here.