How Stamford Health Used Ludi to Save $259,000 Annually

The Challenge

Stamford Health found it difficult to manually manage 100+ time logs each month.

Physicians would miss submitting time, forget, then want to be paid for a whole year. Self-audits would often reveal overpayment, forcing the system to collect money back from physicians. Many times, the entries were so hard to read they needed to be reprocessed.

Needing to solve challenges of manual monitoring and payment of physician time, Stamford Health’s CMO directed the team to search for a solution.

The Solution

Stamford Health’s Executive Director of Medical Affairs, a process improvement expert and black belt in Six Sigma, recognized the manual nature of the current process and the waste as a prime target for a LEAN improvement project. She and the selection team recalled a physician compensation automation solution by Ludi they had seen at a recent conference.

The selection team felt certain it was the best choice compared to alternatives because of how easy it is for physicians to use – both in its design and mobile nature. After taking stock of the current manual systems and measuring the potential savings, Stamford Health decided to move forward with implementing Ludi.

The Results

1 . Savings on Staff Time and Spend

The organization has achieved accurate documentation that illustrates the duties in the agreement: timely and legible time logs. Specifically, 44 hospital staff members are using Ludi to approve logs and pay providers. Ludi’s physician compensation automation technology has streamlined or eliminated manual processes to help Stamford Health save an estimated $103,000 annually in staff time.

Hospitals our size could really benefit from Ludi. Many don’t have huge compliance and operations departments. The software has streamlined our processes and improved our outcomes.

Executive Director of Medical Affairs
Stamford Health

2. Increased Provider Satisfaction

Stamford Health’s 101 physicians achieved a 100%  adoption rate of the system, with ZERO complaints. “Sometimes we have technical solutions that don’t get adopted because they don’t work for the individual. I have been pleasantly pleased we have not received one complaint,” the Executive Director of Medical Affairs said. She believes that because the app was designed with a physician workflow in mind, there has not been resistance. Physicians working with Stamford Health appreciate the transparency — they can see where time logs are at in the process, and get paid faster.

3. Increased Reimbursement

Before partnering with Ludi, Stamford Health was not submitting admin time on their Medicare Cost Report. Submitting within the report will improve area wage index adjustments across all hospital Medicare DRGs. Since there are six hospitals in the area, this change will result in increased revenue of $50,000 annually.

4. Savings on Provider Spend

With Ludi, Stamford has implemented hard stops on dates to submit logs, and is using the software to ensure the system doesn’t miss monthly or annual maximums. Their estimated payoff on those measures? An annual $56,000.

5. Ensured Compliance and Risk Abatement

Ludi helps hospitals stay fully compliant and minimize potential Stark Law risk, creating peace of mind for stakeholders in hospital systems and helping them avoid fines that could cost $50,000 or more. Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs & Chief Medical Officer Sharon Kiely, MD, cites this reassurance as a key benefit to the Ludi system. “We all sleep better at night.”

One Final Note

Here’s what Stamford Health’s Executive Director of Medical Affairs would tell other hospitals considering a solution:

“Hospitals our size could really benefit from Ludi. Many don’t have huge compliance and operations departments. The software has streamlined our processes and improved our outcomes.”