Case Study: How Forge Health Reduced Intake to Admission Time by 50% 

Expanding your practices into new locations and new states brings a lot of benefits—but there can be some growing pains. As Forge Health, a multi-site treatment practice spanning five states in the Northeastern U.S., discovered, even aspects like patient intake and scheduling need reassessment to scale to growth.  

They were using an outdated manual process, which was time consuming and prone to errors, leading to delays in patient admission times and strains on staff productivity. The organization knew it was time to find a solution that could handle the complexities of their expanding operations while delivering a positive patient experience. They began looking for technology that could centralize scheduling and better engage patients. That search brought them to Kipu. 

Specifically, they implemented two key Kipu solutions: the Patient Portal and Scheduler. Forge’s market research showed them that these tools could address their needs, specifically to help them automate and streamline critical aspects of patient intake while helping them centralize scheduling. Here’s how they used them: 

• Patient Portal: The Patient Portal was designed to empower patients by providing them with a user-friendly platform to complete intake forms, access important information, and communicate with their healthcare providers. By moving this process online, the organization made it easier for patients to engage with their care from the outset. 
• Scheduler: Alongside the Patient Portal, the Scheduler was introduced to manage staff schedules and resource allocation. This tool allowed for more efficient management of patient in-person or telehealth appointments, and used reminders and confirmations to optimize attendance rates. As a result, scheduling staff could maximize their time and focus on delivering high-quality care. 

The combined impact of these two tools has made a positive impact on Forge. “The combination of the tools has been really helpful for us to get our documents done, send appointment reminders, and show people log on using the Zoom feature of the portal,” shared Cynthia Fox, Forge’s VP of engagement and experience. “With Scheduler, we saw a 35% improvement in speed to care.”

Beyond that, Forge has seen a few other critical benefits, including: 

• Improved Staff Productivity: With the Scheduler, staff could easily manage their schedules, reducing administrative burdens and freeing up more time for patient care. The visibility into staff schedules also facilitated better resource allocation and planning. “That increased transparency has really allowed us to maximize productivity,” Cynthia said. 
• Centralized Admissions: The Scheduler enabled the organization to centralize its admissions process, allowing for better management of patient flow across multiple locations. This not only improved operational efficiency but also ensured that patients were matched with the most appropriate care settings for their needs. 

Beyond those benefits, Forge has also found some unexpected perks to working with Kipu. For one, Cynthia has valued how quickly the customer support team has been able to react to issues, and evolve the system to meet Forge’s specific needs. “The Kipu Team is keeping pace with our growth, and they’re able to make frequent changes really fast. Anytime I came to the Kipu team with an issue, they fixed it.” 

Additionally, the support library Kipu provides has saved Cynthia a lot of time. “The support and training on the website is fantastic. Whenever someone comes to me with something they need to understand better, I just point them to the videos. I even know some of them so well I can point staff to specific timestamps in the videos!” 

Growing a practice comes with a lot of challenges, but as Forge found out, keeping the right partner who can help grow and scale is critical. If you’re looking to expand, or if you need to find better ways to keep your patients engaged, visit us today to book a demo.

About the Authors

Sally Abu-Moustafa