Located in Virginia and spanning three counties—Halifax, Mecklenburg, and Brunswick—Southside Behavioral Health is a cornerstone Community Service Board dedicated to serving rural populations. With 17 locations strategically dispersed throughout the state, Southside is committed to providing essential services to children and adults alike.
At the heart of their mission lies a comprehensive range of services, including Behavioral Health and Wellness, Children and Family Services, Developmental Disabilities, Substance Use Disorder, Emergency Services, Prevention, and Early Intervention.
Since 2011, Southside has leveraged the Credible electronic health record (EHR) solution from Qualifacts to optimize their operations and enhance client care. Serving a rural community, Southside Behavioral Health prioritizes an EHR equipped with tools for practitioners and staff to effectively address client needs. This involves tracking missed appointments due to transportation limitations and lack of public transit.
“Front end staff used a manual appointment reminder system that compounded administrative burdens, while frequent no-show appointments resulted in unproductive, unbillable hours for Practitioners, with no documentation or billing.”
Nicole Lewis, Director of Quality Compliance with Southside Behavioral Health expressed the challenges they faced without a virtual care solution specifically, “Front end staff used a manual appointment reminder system that compounded administrative burdens, while frequent no-show appointments resulted in unproductive, unbillable hours for practitioners, with no documentation or billing.” The COVID-19 pandemic further complicated these issues and highlighted the critical need for a client engagement solution to serve Southside Behavioral Health clients.
In 2022, Southside Behavioral Health discovered Qualifacts’ Client Engagement Suite and its ability to integrate into the Credible EHR. This allowed them to better connect with clients unable to make it to their physical office, offering more flexibility for care. While their initial motivation was to improve accessibility, the urgency of the COVID-19 Pandemic expedited their adoption timeline.
Lewis commented, “The Client Engagement Suite provides clients with access to care when transportation to their appointment isn’t available or doesn’t show up. It’s also beneficial for the client who may have to cancel an appointment due to other circumstances, that they have the option to make it virtually.”
In August 2023, Southside Behavioral Health launched the Qualifacts Client Engagement Suite without delay, marking a significant shift in how they provide essential services to their community. “Since going live in August 2023, Practitioners send about 8-10 forms a month. Once we get the full integration of the forms, we anticipate a lot more going out,” Lewis stated.
This launch brought about several notable improvements:
- Front desk appointment confirmation became more efficient, reducing the need for front desk staff to manually call clients. Unconfirmed appointments left time slots available for others to fill.
- Clients experienced improved access to care, as they could log in from private locations to receive treatment if they couldn’t attend in-person appointments.
- Remote staff gained the ability to send forms for eSignatures, aiding in billing processes, gathering missing information from charts, and improving overall efficiency.
“Qualifacts’ Client Engagement Suite is so great because now we can use remote staff to treat clients from home.”
In her closing statements, Lewis expressed her enthusiasm, saying, “We haven’t been able to hire in-person staff that are licensed to provide our clients services because of the workforce shortages we’re all facing. So, it makes access to care that much harder, which is why the Client Engagement Suite is so great, now we can use remote staff to treat clients from home.”
As Southside Behavioral Health looks ahead, they envision the evolution of the Client Engagement Suite with plans to integrate Google meetings for in-person sessions and reserve its use for when clients don’t visit the clinic. Additionally, they aim to enhance their EHR system’s client engagement capabilities with features like same-day access, swift client account setup, forms integration, surveys, and client record accessibility.
Reflecting on her experience, Lewis stated, “I already have been recommending the Qualifacts Client Engagement Suite to fellow behavioral health organizations. The onboarding team was great to work with and the integration with Credible made the transition smooth.”
