November 2006 Newsletter
Fulfilling Clients' Needs
to a (XI)T
A milestone was celebrated this first week of November 2006: the fortieth Xpeditor “go-live” accomplished by the Xpeditor Implementation Team, the group that was commissioned in 2004 to change the way new Xpeditor installations were conducted. Those 40 implementations have included our first Kentucky and Pennsylvania hospitals and 11 new Michigan hospitals in addition to many Ohio facilities.
The Xpeditor Implementation Team (XIT) was the brainchild of EDI Services Vice President Tony Petras, who saw several problems with the way Xpeditor had been implemented by the Account Representatives assigned to the geographic territory of each new installation. With increasingly complex installations, a process plan was easily dismissed, and though new knowledge was gained with each set of obstacles overcome, that knowledge was scattered among different service teams, leading to low continuity between installs. Perhaps the worst problem encountered was the dilution of support for existing clients as Account Reps were repurposed to bring up a new client.
The concept Tony presented in 2003 was to dedicate a specialized team, with a specialized focus, to establish standard implementation methodology and processes, thereby to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of Xpeditor Implementations. With the addition of Mike Daugstrup to the EDI Services staff, XIT was born. Several more Xpeditor Implementation Team members (affectionately known as “XITs,” pronounced “zits”) have been added since that time to round out our expert team, filling the roles of Workflow Leaders, Technical Leaders, a Remit Leader, and an XIT Coordinator.
The methodology established incorporates a standard kick-off agenda that leaves nothing to guesswork, a complete toolset (checklists, tracking tools, charts, and more) for XITs to use with each organization, a regular pattern of status meetings and reporting, policies and procedures for engagement, and a standard transition protocol to move the primary support of the new, live client to the support representatives serving that geographic territory.
The XIT comprises exemplary individuals, such as Alison Hollo, an XIT Workflow Leader who was named the 2005 Employee of the Year for all of EDI Services. Our clients love Alison, too; one Ohio hospital’s PFS Analyst made this unsolicited comment: “I have nothing but rave reviews for Alison!! She is excellent and a joy to work with. I am so impressed with Quadax’s approach to implementations. It makes such a difference having a team set apart just for implementations.”
The applause has been extended to other members of the team, as well. In September of this year, Judy Hamblin, Director of Patient Financial Services at Mary Chiles Hospital in Kentucky said, “I am truly, truly pleased as I can be. From the beginning of our onsite experience, I feel as though I have been thoroughly involved and informed by the Quadax staff regarding where we are and what’s next. Jen, Linda, and Mike [Elam] have exceeded our expectations and are a complete pleasure to work with. I am excited about what we’re doing here and will gladly be an excellent reference for your company’s wonderful staff.”
The value of XIT transcends the smooth implementation of Xpeditor Enterprise for a new client, however. In addition to implementing new Xpeditor business, XIT has also developed protocols for and initiated the Xpeditor Enterprise Performance Optimization Analyses at 17 existing clients, and has assisted with hardware migrations at other Xpeditor Enterprise locations. Through the fulfillment of its mission, XIT makes the Quadax mission possible: to create value for organizations in the healthcare industry through innovative business solutions built on superior technology and enhanced with excellent service.