Some administrators are more hands-off than others; operating from one state away, Julie Brooks is more so than most.

 

Brooks, who is the practice administrator for Digestive Health Associates in Chattanooga, keeps the office running smoothly even though she currently lives in Louisville, Ky. She joined the practice in March 2004, and a couple of years ago got two pieces of news in 48 hours that changed her whole approach to administration.

 

"I found out on Thursday that I was pregnant, and on Saturday my husband found out he was being transferred with his job," Brooks recalled. "It was quite a weekend."

 

She immediately turned in her notice and began working on a comprehensive succession plan, but she and the physicians never found an ideal replacement. Like good business owners everywhere, they found a third way to keep the operation running smoothly.

 

"We had already gone to electronic medical records at the end of 2007, and so the doctors kept asking me, 'Can you do it?' I didn't think I could, but one day it just hit me that we could make this work. And between the doctors, the staff and myself, we came up with a plan to make it happen."

 

These days Brooks works from home using an IP line, with calls routed to her from Chattanooga. She is tapped into the server remotely, and the entire system serves as a virtual office.

 

"I can hear them paging on the overhead, I can make schedule changes and do just about everything else, so it's really like being there," she said. "I pretty much know what's going on."

 

She visits the physical site once a month for meetings and to oversee major changes, such as the July 4 weekend's move into a new office. It's a challenge to literally be in two places at once, but it's something she excelled in during stints with BlueCross of Tennessee and disability carrier Unum, and a skill set she further honed by getting an MBA at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.

 

"I always knew I wanted to be in healthcare, but didn't have the stomach for the blood part," Brooks said. "The insurance world was always changing, but it wasn't as dynamic as being in a practice, so when this opportunity came, I jumped on it."
Even after several years, the challenges keep coming. In addition to getting DHA set up in a new space that will allow for future growth, and also is physically attached to Memorial Mission Surgery Center so that the physicians can literally just go upstairs or down to be in surgery or in the office, Brooks says she's also making sure that the financial side of the practice stays in tune with changing times.

 

"Every year we have to get in touch with our elected officials and make sure that we're talking to them about payments and decreases in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements," she said. "And even as we do that, we have to redefine our approach to make sure that we're able to provide the best possible care for our patients in the most effective and efficient manner. So it really is about making sure that we're compliant, but also watching every cost where we can."
As for the practice itself, three doctors and one nurse practitioner all work seamlessly with the front- and back-office staff, ensuring steady lines of communication that Brooks says makes her job if not easy, at least easier.

 

"When we make a decision in our office, we're consistent," she said. "When a doctor's office refers a patient to us, they are going to have pretty much the same process no matter which doctor they see. We've worked hard on everything from procedures to protocols so that everyone takes ownership of what we do. When we have a meeting about something, we all come out of it knowing what's going on, and knowing what we need to do."

 

The methodical approach has led to stellar ratings from patients, as a recent three-month survey showed.

 

"I've never been so proud of our entire staff," Brooks said. "Our entire process—front to back, back to front—has been designed with the patient in mind, and that shows. Now we're working with Memorial to be a beta tester for new lab and pathology systems, which is going to be very meaningful for our practice. They wouldn't have us doing it if we didn't have superstars across the board."
Going forward, Brooks says the DHA will be continuing to tap into new ways of doing its existing procedures, and also continually prioritizing to ensure that the practice has what it needs, and what it expects to need, to continue growing at a successful pace.

 

"We've got our ear to the ground," she said. "The hardest part of healthcare now is just disseminating all the information that's out there. There's always something coming at you, and so we have to be plugged in—and also know what to digest right now and what to set aside for later. We do that by making sure that we have our staff trained, appreciated, and challenged."

 

By utilizing two supervisors and a team leader on the ground, Brooks says that she's able to do that, and much more.

 

"I have the human-resource training that a lot of people who come straight into office management don't get," she said. 'Everyone is encouraged by our doctors and our management to voice their concerns and share how to make things better, and that shows when these people really go the extra mile for our patients."