How I Work: A day with VP of IT and Accounts Receivable, Ilene Shapiro

We sat down with Ilene Shapiro, VP of Information Technology and Accounts Receivable at Tutera Senior Living & Health Care, to talk about her work style and her recent experience implementing PointClickCare’s Document Manager solution. Ilene gave us a sneak peek into her day-to-day work, what makes her passionate, and how she accidentally began a career in healthcare.

Tell us your healthcare journey, how did you get to where you are today?
Thirty-four years ago, I started as the Business Office Manager of Tutera’s first nursing home. I never actually planned to be in long-term care, so my healthcare journey started out a bit by fluke.

It’s a funny story; I was looking for a job in accounting, and a friend of mine was sitting in a bar chatting with a stranger who just so happened to be looking for an accountant. It turned out that this particular individual worked for a company called SLH Management, which at the time I didn’t know stood for Saint Luke’s Hospital Management.

When I applied to the accounting job with SLH Management I learned they managed Tutera’s first nursing home, so I had no idea that it had anything to do with healthcare.

But I’m glad it happened. Even if by accident, it was my destiny to join the Tutera family. Since I started, Tutera has been known as a turnaround company and since that time hundreds of facilities have come and gone. Tutera currently represents approximately 40 facilities across the Assisted Living, Independent Living, and Skilled Nursing continuum with new builds that will be completed over the next year and half.

In my time with Tutera, I’ve gone from Business Office Manager, taking care of everything billing, payroll and accounts payable, controller, VP of Accounting, to VP of Information Technology (IT) and Accounts Receivable, managing a team of people. It’s been quite a journey, and I wouldn’t change anything about it.

If you weren’t in long-term care, where do you think you would be today?
I have no idea… Tutera has been my life for the last 34 years so it’s hard to imagine doing anything else. My passion is shopping; so I guess I could have been a personal shopper… does that count?

What are you most passionate about in your job?
There are two things. First, it’s that I’m able to learn something new every single day. Second, I love the company I work for,  it’s a family-owned business, and after 34 years, I truly feel like I am a part of the family.

How long have you been using PointClickCare in your career?
My first experience with PointClickCare was five years ago. I remember coming to the very first PointClickCare SUMMIT fresh out of implementation, which was a great experience.

Which PointClickCare products are Tutera using today?
We use the admin, clinical, and IRM modules in PointClickCare, as well as Practitioner Engagement, Secure Conversations, IMM, and Eligibility Verification. We are also going to pilot the conversion from IRM to CRM, and of course our latest addition – Document Manager.

Why did your organization decide to make the switch to a document manager solution? And why did you choose to partner with PointClickCare?
The second question is an easy one. Anything that we can do with PointClickCare – we’ll do. Having a truly integrated system allows for a seamless user experience and provides more comprehensive support to our team.

We decided to adopt the Document Manager solution because of our initiative to become a completely paperless organization.

We currently have five facilities that are paperless, and Document Manager is an important piece of the paperless puzzle. This solution also enables our marketers to be more proactive by bringing a tablet with them to hospitals, allowing them to get the necessary paperwork signed before a new resident ever enters our facility. Not only is this an efficient method of obtaining the right forms and signatures, but also it adds to the professionalism Tutera offers our residents.

Was making the transition to Document Manager difficult for your team?
Not at all, using the Document Manager solution is simple. What was hard was convincing our employees that they really don’t need paper! It has been nothing but positive feedback from our team.

How has using Document Manager changed the way your team works?
It has helped to make our teams much more cohesive and unified. The process between our Admission Marketing Coordinators and our Business Office Managers has become more unified and efficient. They can act proactively when it comes to admissions to ensure that as a business, we continue to operate successfully.

Our teams cannot stop talking about how Document Manager has made them incredibly efficient. They no longer spend hours at a scanner, or filling out the same information over and over by hand.

Their documentation is accurate, complete, and always available.

The whole process has become much more professional, it brings us into the 21^st century. I have been told that the complete process has gone from 45 minutes on paper to 15 minutes electronically.

Fill in this blank, I would recommend Document Manager to _____________.
Everyone! It’s that simple. If you have documentation, then you need this solution. If not for the time-savings and efficiency improvements, then for the storage costs. We had documents from the last 34 years in storage, which is a significant expense for our organization. Our investment in Document Manager is going to help to eliminate that expense.

What advice would you give to someone considering a document manager solution?
Get one that integrates directly into the EHR system you are using. I’m not a big fan of trying to connect different solutions from different vendors, there always ends up being issues. If you can get something from your current vendor that saves those documents directly in the platform you’re using, why would you go elsewhere?

If you could describe your work style in one or two words, what would they be?
Task oriented. I like to have a list of what I need to do and go through it in the order of priority.

What do you do outside of work? How do you recharge?
Since I moved from a Business Office Manager to now running all Tutera’s accounts receivable and IT, I find myself constantly thinking about databases. To recharge I like to escape it all. I knit, make jewelry, and of course, I shop!

Learn more about PointClickCare Document Manager.

Read More: A day with RN Quality Improvement Consultant, Amy Cassata