As Harrison County Memorial Hospital (Bethany, MO) prepared to construct a new facility to replace their 70-year-old flagship, leaders decided they also wanted a fully integrated EHR to keep up with their evolution. The rural organization selected Expanse through the MEDITECH as a Service (MaaS) model — and is now seeing positive results a year after go-live, particularly with their revenue cycle.
“Before going to MEDITECH, our organization was operating with three separate EHRs, including two different revenue cycle systems,” said CFO Doug Brandt. “We wanted our EHR and revenue cycle solution to be all on one platform, which would allow us to more efficiently handle a higher volume of services. Expanse was definitely the right choice for us.”
Leaders were impressed to see Expanse had an immediate impact on their revenue cycle. Their accounts receivable (A/R) days held steady throughout the EHR migration, and lower A/R targets have been established for the upcoming year. “In addition, after one fiscal year with Expanse, our collection rate exceeded what we had forecasted,” Brandt added.
‘A big morale booster’
Revenue Cycle Director Jamie Smith explained that Harrison County has been able to automate multiple billing and payment processes, significantly reducing the time spent on manual input and review of information reported to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“In our previous system, we had to export Excel reports from our A/R, and then enter them into a spreadsheet. Our office manager would have to manually move data around to give it to the appropriate biller,” Smith said. “We don’t have to do that with MEDITECH, because the system automatically prepares those reports for the staff.”
Smith added they were also able to automate routine “write-offs” of bills for certain patients. “Expanse saves us time by automatically writing off our oral medications for Medicare and Medicare Advantage patients,” Smith says. “These new processes have been a big morale booster within our business office.”
Building toward the future with Expanse
Harrison County has already begun preparations for the construction of a new hospital, located less than a mile from the current Harrison County Community Hospital in Bethany. With an opening planned for summer of 2026, the new medical center will include private patient rooms, in-house MRI, expanded outpatient surgery, specialty clinic areas, and critical infusion services.
“We’re looking forward to a new hospital, and we’re so glad to have an efficient, advanced EHR to go along with it,” said Brandt. “As times change, we are deploying technologies that are a good fit for our community’s needs, now and for the future.”
