In this Q&A, Mario Najera, Chief Technology Officer from Chino Hills Family Medical Group, breaks down the challenges their organization experienced with eClinicalWorks’ healow and how they use Phreesia to save time and make more money.

Q. Why did your organization seek out a new solution? Were you using something prior? 

Mario: We were looking for solutions for our intake to help reduce input errors, reliably verify eligibility and reduce costs.

We tried healow and the kiosk option that eCW offered and then being unsatisfied with that we went back to paper.

Time passed and we were looking for a more sophisticated intake system. We looked at multiple companies, including our PM/EHR again and ultimately decided to go with Phreesia.

Q. What is your experience with healow for check-in?

Mario: We had some problems with healow for check-in. It seemed to be difficult for some patients to navigate it, and it seemed to not be effective without multiple text or email notifications to patients.

Which led to the number one reason why we moved away from healow—cost. eCW has a “per use” pricing model, and as we grew, that cost just increased across the board.

Q. What are two or three of the biggest impact areas or specific outcomes you’ve seen with Phreesia?

Mario: Phreesia had a very positive impact with our intake. Immediately, we had a huge relief with verifying patient eligibility. Even for our HMO patients. Phreesia provides an easy, reliable method to verify my scheduled patients’ eligibility.

We also have health screening questions and surveys that are attached to different visit types that allow us to capture those results prior to the provider entering the room.

But most of all, Phreesia has been such a useful resource, that I completely was able to reduce the number of people required for the front desk. We have gone from a mandatory three staff members to two. We can even reduce that to one person on a slower day.

Q. Have collections increased with Phreesia, and costs to collect reduced? 

Mario: Post-visit payment collection is where I feel the most value from Phreesia. Collecting outstanding balances is now easy. Sending out messages for balances is a simple process.

Our collection percentage has skyrocketed since using Phreesia.

Add to that the reduction in having to print, stamp and mail physical statements, then the value increases with the reduced costs. 

Q. Any advice? 

Mario: The best advice that I can give for anyone that is interested in Phreesia is just don’t be afraid to try something different. I know in healthcare in particular, change is something that doesn’t come easy. We are still relying heavily on faxes!

My office’s success comes from a combination of the quality of care that we provide our patients paired with a high standard of service which is supported by companies like Phreesia.  

Because I have had success with Phreesia and I can trust that their process is accurate and correct, I can focus on other ways to increase the quality of care and service we provide to our patients.

3 reasons to switch from healow to Phreesia 

• Higher utilization without runaway costs: Patients actually used it—without a per-use model punishing growth. 
• Huge relief with E&B: Reliable E&B reduces errors and downstream rework. 
• Get paid more, faster: Easier post-visit outreach and digital payments can lift collections while cutting print/mail costs.