Speaker: Joseph Ferguson , President , Fredericksburg Primary Care, PC
What problem was your practice experiencing before HealthSnap?
Joseph Ferguson : Before my practice started making use of RPM. I had a big problem. I was trying to decide on what to do with patients, blood pressure medication when I didn't really know what kind of blood pressures they were running. I mean, some people have blood pressures in the office that are higher than at home. Some people have blood pressures in the office that are lower than at home. I just need to know what people's blood pressures are at home. And RPM has allowed me to get that information.
How did HealthSnap help resolve this challenge?
Joseph Ferguson : Now that my practice is using RPM, I actually know what people's blood pressures are like at home, which means that I have the information I need to make decisions about patients, blood pressure medication.
What have you been able to achieve since using HealthSnap's RPM/CCM platform or services?
Joseph Ferguson : There's a little bit of controversy about what blood pressure goals we should have for patients of various ages. But as far as I'm concerned, that discussion is not actually relevant because what I'm trying to do with my patients is get their blood pressure as low as I can safely get it. That means I wanna try and get the blood pressure as low as possible without there ever being a dangerously low blood pressure. And the only way I'm gonna know that that a patient's not getting dangerously low blood pressures at time is if I have a lot of readings from home and that's what I get with RPM. Think about it. If a patient's, let's say a patient takes, their blood pressure has taken their blood pressure 50 times since you last saw that patient, the lowest blood pressure is 100/60. The highest blood pressure is 100 and 60/1 10. Well, someone might look at that 160/110 and say, oh, we need to put this person on more blood pressure medicine. But since that person's blood pressure is sometimes as low as 100/60 putting that person on blood pressure, medicine or more blood pressure medicine could work out to be disastrous. Bottom line is we don't want to be chasing after every high blood pressure, especially if, by doing so, we're putting our patients at risk of passing out and hitting their head.
What has exceeded your expectations since working with us?
Joseph Ferguson : HealthSnap is not the first RPM company that I've worked with. It's the second. the first RPM company I worked with had some unscrupulous practices. You see, if a patient is checking their blood pressure over the course of less than 16 days out of a month, then Medicare is not gonna reimburse anything. So if a patient checks their blood pressure 45 times over the course of a month, but those 45 times are only on 15 days and not 16 days, then Medicare pays nothing. The first RPM company I worked with would charge me for services that Medicare didn't pay for. So when I finally figured out what was going on, I realized that they were making a lot of money and not only was I not making money, I was losing money. It was crazy. HealthSnap would never do that seriously. They're a good company to work with. They have certainly exceeded my expectations. They have certainly treated me in a fair and appropriate way.
What's the main reason you recommend HealthSnap's RPM or CCM program and services to a trusted colleague?
Joseph Ferguson : RPM with HealthSnap has been a huge boom to my bottom line and that thrills me. But what's even better is for the first time in my life. I know that I'm doing a really good job of treating people's blood pressure for the first time ever. I am confident that I'm doing right by my patients and it's hard to beat that.
Is there anything else that you would like to say about HealthSnap's platform, services, or company?
Joseph Ferguson : Last thing I'd like to say about HealthSnap is it's an organization full of good people. I mean, that's what our company is. It's a bunch of people and the people with HealthSnap have been fantastic. The ones interacting with my patients are professional and cordial and kind and my patients love them. The people at HealthSnap that I interact with are kind and professional and patient with me working with HealthSnap has really, really been a pleasure and I'm so thankful that I've had the chance to work with them and so thankful that I'm gonna be able to continue working with them far distant, hopefully into the future.
