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............................................................................. Meridian Regional Imaging, Mundelein, Illinois The Challenge Meridian's founder and Chief Operating Officer Stan Driscoll had a dream. He wanted to deliver Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans directly to radiologists, rather than have the radiologists travel to various locations to read and interpret test results. He also needed to be able to process patients efficiently, from scheduling through billing. The Solution The experts at ABN/ABG listened carefully to Stan describe his goals. Then, using their expertise and a carefully selected combination of state-of-the-art technology, they created an infrastructure that made his business model a reality. "ABN was able to allow us to rapidly transmit images from one location to another in a very cost-effective manner," Stan said. Today, Meridian electronically delivers MRIs from imaging centers to radiologists' offices, over a broad geographic area ranging across central and northern Illinois. The radiologists interpret the findings and dictate their report. Next, the report is delivered to the transcriptionist and converted to written form, then returned to the doctors for approval. In addition, the results can be delivered to the referring physician. The target turnaround time in total for these steps is 2 hours - compared to an industry standard measured in days. "Here's our competitive advantage," noted Stan, pointing out that Meridian's doctors can average 50-80 cases per day versus 16 for the doctors who travel to centers to interpret results. The network also enables Meridian to provide higher quality interpretation as well as faster results, because centers have the ability to send images to the appropriate specialist, either a neuroradiologist or musculoskeletal radiologist. And the radiologists' homes are linked via ABG's network to their offices so that interpretation is available for emergency situations 24 hours a day. As Meridian's business continues to expand, the network easily grows with it. It was designed with centralized hardware so that new connections could be added for minimal cost, and each new leg is custom-tailored for the amount of traffic expected. Security is also a top priority, and the network is in full compliance with HIPAA, the Health Information Private Accounting Act. Meridian's quick-turnaround time, highly qualified doctors, and financial and technical efficiency is a dream come true for Stan. "I hope to keep expanding," he said. "With this infrastructure, we don't have geographic boundaries - our possibilities are limitless." "I relayed a dream to ABN. ABN actualized that dream. They were able to allow us to rapidly transmit images from one location to another in a very cost-effective manner. It's efficient financially and technically." - Stan Driscoll, Chief Operating Officer ............................................................................. Village of Vernon Hills, Vernon Hills, Illinois The Challenge Replace unreliable, disorganized, compartmentalized information architecture in Village Hall and Public Works Department with unified communication infrastructure. The Solution Over the past six years, ABN/ABG experts worked with village officials to move Vernon Hills from the technological Dark Ages into a position of leadership in today's Information Age - without any full-time information technology staff employed by the village. "We became a technologically advanced municipality without sinking a lot of money into developing an IT department," said Larry Nakrin, director of finance for the Village of Vernon Hills. ABN/ABG utilized their expertise and the lateset technology to improve the municipality's operating efficiency and responsiveness to village residents in a number of ways:
Larry Nakrin has been working with ABN/ABG consultants and technicians since 1996, and appreciates their dedication to finding effective solutions. "They're diligent in getting to the root of the problem and solving it. There's no 'blame-the-user' mentality," he said. "A lot of what they get involved in is working with software and hardware companies to get through institutional barriers. They have a real problem-solving ethic versus the ego-based ethic you find so often in this industry." Their commitment to personalized customer service also impresses him. "I like their willingness to make their clients' priorities their priorities. They're big enough to have a lot of technical expertise, yet small enough that all their employees are aware of and understand client needs," he said. "They work together as a team. I have complete faith in them." "I like their willingness to make their clients' priorities their priorities. They're big enough to have a lot of technical expertise, yet small enough that all their employees are aware of and understand client needs." - Larry Nakrin, Director of Finance ............................................................................. Dougal, McClellan & Sullivan Eye Associates, Illinois The Challenge As practice manager of a booming ophthalmology practice with offices in Chicago and suburban Hoffman Estates, Janice Goodyear was overwhelmed with billing and insurance paperwork. When she explored the possibility of converting her existing system of dumb computer terminals to take advantage of real-time billing available through the Internet, four different vendors told her there was absolutely no way to do it within her limited budget. "It would have cost over $100,000 for new hardware, software, and data conversion, not to mention training," Janice said. "To upgrade was so far out of the realm of possibility that it couldn't be done." But the impossible became possible when she talked to the engineers at ABN/ABG. The Solution For a fraction of the astronomical costs Janice had previously been quoted, ABN/ABG installed a high-speed Internet connection, enabling the billing staff to submit claims real-time using their existing hardware and software available online. "In 35-40 seconds, we can hand patients an explanation of their benefits from their insurance carrier, and they can see exactly what they owe," Janice explained. "It's great not having to produce a statement." Even with the system up and running for only a few months, the benefits are already substantial. Cash flow has improved significantly, with billing turnaround time reduced from six to eight weeks down to six to fourteen days. Plus, since generating paper statements is both expensive and time-consuming, costing as much as $9.00 apiece to create and mail, the fewer they need the more they save. Although the practice still sends out about 300 statements each week, due in large part to the fact that Medicare claims cannot be submitted electronically, Janice hopes to eventually reduce that number to 100. “But we’ve moved forward light years, as far as I’m concerned,” she said. “It’s made my year.” Janice not only appreciated ABN/ABG’s affordable solution – she was impressed with their implementation. Despite encountering a number of technology challenges, the ABN/ABG staff took responsibility for resolving every single one of them. “They didn’t say, ‘We’ll be back in two weeks,’ and leave me high and dry,” she recalled. “They stayed here until they finished. That’s solving my problem and saving my time.” Now ABN/ABG is preparing to tackle the next challenge Janice faces: linking the practice management systems at the two office locations via a high-speed connection so that she can optimize productivity by accessing them remotely. -Janice Goodyear, Practice Manager ............................................................................. Five Star Distributors, Vernon Hills, Illinois The Challenge In 1992, Alan Davidove was frustrated. Trying to address the information technology needs of Five Star Distributors, a growing family-owned business supplying vending products, he worked with a software provider, a different hardware provider, and yet another network provider. Whenever a problem developed, there seemed to be more finger-pointing among the different providers than coordinated effort to resolve the issue. All he really wanted was an IT team that worked together productively to anticipate and meet Five Star’s technology needs. The Solution Fortuitously, about this time Alan happened across an ABN advertising flyer. “Timing is everything,” he noted. He hired the firm to analyze his existing IT system and determine what was required to give Five Star the competitive edge it sought. “They were very accurate in describing our business needs,” Alan recalled. ABN developed highly customized IT solutions that have grown with the business, which now services 13 Midwestern states from its suburban Chicago location. According to Alan, the integrated approach has saved the company thousands of dollars in system development and hardware upgrade costs. However, Alan’s complete confidence in the ABN/ABG team is at least as important to him as the financial benefits. “In an industry with extremely high turnover, the key people from 12 years ago are still there. That goes a long way in the level of service provided,” he said. “When someone from ABN/ABG walks through my door, I trust that person. It gives me a sense of family.” From the beginning of their relationship, ABN President Alex Poltorak’s zealous commitment to customer service impressed Alan. “We have similar philosophies about service, and taking care of customers first and foremost. As owners of companies, we understand what has to be done.” Alan relies on ABN/ABG not only to keep his system running flawlessly (“it’s virtually never down,” he noted) and to provide critical security, but also to keep the company on the cutting edge, technologically speaking. “ABN/ABG is proactive about recommending new technology before we know we need it,” he said. “Technology evolves faster than I can track it, but I don’t have to. They make it easy.” -Alan Davidove, Vice President ............................................................................. Benham, Ichen & Knox, Libertyville, Illinois The Challenge The partners at the accounting firm Benham, Ichen & Knox (BIK) have always believed in the power of information technology, relying on it to help them maximize productivity and cost-effectively provide superior client service. Although they built and upgraded their own computers for several years, in 1996 they decided it was time to utilize IT experts to meet the growing challenges of efficiently integrating and accessing the tremendous amounts of data their work involved. The Solution After seeing firsthand how ABN put their expertise to work for a small business that was also a BIK client, BIK knew exactly who to turn to for IT solutions. Partner Chuck Martin recalled, “ABN looked at what we were doing, which was working at the time, and judiciously showed us where we could improve.” Essentially, the first generation of enhancements totally changed BIK’s network and infrastructure, substantially increasing speed and capacity. About five years ago, BIK identified another set of needs at their two offices - for e-mail (they had none), for high-speed Internet access (they had dial-up), and for security. They didn’t hesitate when ABN offered them a partnership opportunity in the newly-formed ABG, which provides high-speed Internet access with valuable managed services ranging from firewalls to remote network monitoring to e-mail management. “The idea of a managed services provider was unique,” Chuck said. “It’s been a success from a technological and administrative standpoint.” BIK turned to ABN when medical issues prevented one of the firm’s long-time accountants from coming into the office. ABN established remote connectivity enabling him to work from home. Now all the partners can take advantage of this productivity-booster. “Our product is time, not widgets,” Chuck commented. “Anything that makes us more efficient with our time translates into dollars. ABN has opened the door to making us more productive and allowing for flexible scheduling. It’s changed how we work and where we work.” In addition, ABN provided BIK with the ability to work on client systems remotely, maximizing productivity and expanding business opportunity. “We have the tools, capability, and technology to work on any company anywhere that has Internet access,” Chuck said. As a numbers expert, Chuck is well aware of ABN’s value to BIK. “I get all of the expertise of a Fortune 100 IT staff without the cost because I get all the different skill sets from ABN for less than I could hire one senior person,” he said. “ABN is a tremendous resource for ideas and implementation. I trust and value them. I’ve learned the hard way about the value of a single point of contact who will handle everything from design to purchase to implementation to proactive follow-up.” “I have peace of mind. I don’t use the term lightly, but at the end of the day, I’m not worrying about our technological infrastructure.” -Charles J. Martin, Partner |
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