Zion Physical Therapy Case Study

Status Quo before Silna

Before implementing Silna, ZionPT faced significant operational challenges with their benefits verification and authorization processes. These inefficiencies were not only time-consuming but directly impacted patient care and business growth.

Benefits Verification

The benefits verification process was highly inefficient, with phone calls often lasting over 40 minutes each, significantly slowing down business operations. The practice relied on a complex Google form with over 4,000 rows to track patient information:

“The phone calls would take over 40 minutes and slowed down our business. Sometimes we didn’t even verify benefits and just assumed they had out-of-network benefits. This was super time consuming and frustrating but our entire admin team had to call payors. Calling for every plan took sooo much time.”

The volume of work was so overwhelming that physical therapists and even practice owners had to step in to help with administrative tasks, taking them away from patient care. In some cases, the team would skip verification entirely, simply assuming patients had out-of-network benefits—a risky practice that led to unbillable services.

Authorization Management

Authorization management was equally problematic. The practice employed one full-time staff member dedicated solely to benefits verification and authorizations, yet still experienced numerous errors. The process was paper-based, creating significant knowledge silos:

“The person doing this before would do everything on paper so we had no idea what she was doing. If she left we lost all of that knowledge. We had no idea what she was handling and the processes.”

This lack of transparency and centralized process created a cascade of problems that affected the entire practice.

Impact on Patient Care

These administrative challenges had direct consequences for patient care. The clinical team frequently encountered late approvals, missed extension dates, and denials. Physical therapists were frustrated because they couldn’t see their patients or treatment was delayed. The practice often had to absorb the cost of visits due to backdating issues.

The verification delays also impacted new patient acquisition, as the practice couldn’t provide benefits quotes quickly enough, resulting in lost patients and schedules that weren’t fully optimized.

Partnering with Silna

Implementation

The implementation process with Silna was remarkably smooth. The practice was impressed by Silna’s understanding of their specific challenges and industry terminology. Even during a key team member’s maternity leave, the onboarding process proceeded efficiently, inspiring confidence in the partnership from the start.

Communication

Communication with the Silna team has been exceptional, facilitating a smooth transition and ongoing relationship. The clear lines of communication have been instrumental in successfully implementing and maintaining the new processes.

Silna’s Impact on the Business

Silna’s solutions have transformed ZionPT’s administrative operations, creating substantial time savings and improving both staff and patient experiences.

Time Savings

The impact on time management has been dramatic. Before Silna, benefits verification and authorization management consumed approximately six hours per day (30 hours per week) across the administrative staff, in addition to requiring one full-time employee dedicated to these tasks. With Silna, this has been reduced to just one to two hours per staff member per day.

This efficiency gain has effectively eliminated the need for a full-time position devoted to authorizations and has freed up the administrative team to focus on other important aspects of practice management.

Improved Workflows

The implementation of Silna’s portal has provided a centralized resource for tracking verification and authorization processes. Even physical therapists can now check the status of authorizations, significantly reducing internal back-and-forth communication.

The ability to track when authorizations were requested, follow-up actions, and other key data points has given the practice much greater visibility into these critical processes:

“Even the PT’s to see the status of an authorization has really reduced the back and forth internally. Knowing when the auth was requested, when you follow up, having that series of tracking has helped us understand this process.”

Faster Patient Intake

One of the most significant business impacts has been the ability to quote potential patients much faster. This improved efficiency has made ZionPT more competitive in the market:

“We are able to quote patients so much faster because of Silna. The impact of this allows us to be more competitive in the market. It is going to lead to more evals coming in quicker and we win more customers. We want to schedule new patients as quickly as possible.”

This faster intake process not only helps acquire new patients but also enhances the overall patient experience, which in turn leads to more referrals.

Staff Satisfaction

The administrative team is notably happier since implementing Silna. Physical therapists appreciate having visibility into authorization status, eliminating uncertainty and reducing the need for constant follow-up with the administrative staff.

Recommendation to Physical Therapy Practices Considering Silna

For physical therapy practices facing similar challenges with benefits verification and authorization management, ZionPT’s experience demonstrates the substantial value that Silna can provide. The practice has seen tangible improvements in operational efficiency, staff satisfaction, patient acquisition, and overall business competitiveness.

The centralized, transparent processes facilitated by Silna not only save time but also eliminate the risks associated with knowledge silos and paper-based systems. The ability to quickly verify benefits and process authorizations creates a smoother experience for both staff and patients, ultimately contributing to practice growth through faster intake and increased referrals.

ZionPT’s transformation illustrates how addressing administrative bottlenecks with the right partner can have far-reaching effects throughout a physical therapy practice, from clinical operations to business development.