Research

One of the country’s largest employers and not-for-profit health care systems, Banner Health offers 19 hospitals, six long-term care centers and an array of other services including family clinics, home care services and home medical equipment services in eight states. In addition to basic emergency and medical services, a variety of specialized services including heart care, cancer treatment, delivery of high-order multiple births, organ transplants, bone marrow transplants, rehabilitation services and behavioral health services are available. Banner Health is also involved in cutting-edge research aimed at helping patients suffering from spinal cord injuries and Alzheimer's disease.

When Banner Health’s newest medical facility – Banner Estrella Medical Center in Phoenix, Ariz.- opens its doors to patients this December, not only will the most technologically advanced medical equipment be available, but also a powerful document management software solution aimed at keeping the Human Resources department as state-of-the-art as their patient care units.

They will be using Westbrook Technologies’ Fortis to achieve their goal to chart a paperless and filmless course that will eliminate file storage space and save on costly paper purchases from the very beginning. “Because of the high cost of paper and the need to be HIPAA compliant, we wanted to start this facility off immediately with a cost-efficient and secure solution to maintaining files. With multiple staff members needing to gain access to the files, Fortis will provide the means as we continue our reputation as providing the finest care in the region to our Banner Health patients,” says Matt Cacy, database administrator.

In addition, Banner’s 19 other hospitals located across eight states will implement Fortis as they join leading national healthcare facilities exchanging manila folders stuffed with medical records and other documents for electronic files that are secure, yet easily and quickly accessible by staff.

Of the 20 additional hospitals slated to use Fortis, Banner’s Colorado Regional Medical Center’s staff offices eagerly await the implementation where the focus is on the highly voluminous credentialing verification organization (CVO). The CVO process includes physician background checks, privileges to practice, verification letters from past employers and institutions. “Usually each paper file is about one-inch thick,” says Cacy. “We’re going to try and make this a paper-light system.” Fortis will assist the healthcare giant with HIPAA compliancy by allowing staff to securely maintain backed-up copies of credentialing documents and Human Resources files.

The Legal departments at the hospitals will also benefit from Fortis by having quick and easy access to old records, which include vendor contracts and court actions.

Using Fortis to carry out Disaster Recovery planning, the medical centers will be able to recover patient medical records, physician credentialing information, employee records and patient financial information by maintaining an off site back-up system.

“We’re very excited with the prospect of obtaining our goals using Fortis. Rolling out this point solutions software from the very beginning will definitely help with providing overall extraordinary customer service and care that our Banner Health patients have come to know from our existing medical centers,” says Cacy. “We’ll then share the success with our other medical centers."

Banner case study

Industry: Healthcare

Entity: Banner Health

Location: Phoenix, AZ, U.S.A. and Alaska, California, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming

Number of Employees: 22,000 (15,000 in Arizona)

Assets: $2.2 billion

Revenue: $2.1 billion

Westbrook Technologies’ Software Suite:
              – Fortis
              – Fortis Office
              – Quick Find
              – Data Entry
              – Audit Trail

Westbrook Technologies’ Partner:
Get Proof, Inc.

One of the country’s largest employers and not-for-profit health care systems, Banner Health offers 19 hospitals, six long-term care centers and an array of other services including family clinics, home care services and home medical equipment services in eight states.

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