Helping Hands Children Services Management, a provider of quality ABA therapy on the East Coast, recently implemented CR NoteGuardAI. Their goal was to deepen their documentation oversight and support clinical consistency across their growing, multi-location practice. With a foundation of strong compliance practices already in place,
Helping Hands used NoteGuardAI to improve visibility, streamline internal quality assurance, and proactively address areas for optimization.
NoteGuardAI has delivered measurable value for the team at Helping Hands, leading to:
- Refined note templates
- Actionable insights for staff development
- Stronger alignment between session notes and treatment goals
“It’s honestly the best add-on I’ve gotten from CentralReach ever.”
VP of Regulatory Affairs
Helping Hands Children Services Management
The Opportunity for Enhancement: Building on a Strong Foundation
With a strong focus on compliance, Helping Hands already had an effective documentation workflow in place. However, the leadership team recognized the need for more efficient, consistent, and scalable processes. As they grew, so did the need to strengthen quality assurance.
To meet this need, the team aimed to standardize quality checks across locations. They explored NoteGuardAI, which offered the perfect opportunity to better visualize trends and address documentation compliance risks quickly and effectively before they became an issue. “It’s given us the opportunity to correct our own errors before the payors find them,” Sarah Vega, VP of Regulatory Affairs, explains. “It’s like calling your own fouls and fixing them before sending anything to a third party.”
The Solution: CR NoteGuardAI
Initial Implementation Strategy
When Helping Hands first implemented CR NoteGuardAI, they took a strategic approach to addressing documentation issues. They started with a small set of high-impact rules, such as completing all required fields, to gain actionable data without overwhelming their team. “We kept it small with less than 15 rules,” Vega shared. “You’re going to get a lot of feedback initially. Start manageable and expand.”
They were able to quickly identify issues within their session notes that they wouldn’t have otherwise noticed. For example, when setting rules for narrative length and required fields, they realized their templates had fields that should have been set to “required,” but weren’t. This insight led them to revise their template to ensure staff completed all note requirements before they were able to sign and submit them.
The Impact: More Confident Compliance Oversight
Early Detection, Lower Risk
With automated flagging of errors, the leadership team was able to easily identify and correct documentation discrepancies before submission, reducing payor exposure.
“Sending payors bad claims data is going to cause them to audit you more heavily, and it puts your organization at much greater risk for recoupment and audits, shares Vega.”
Strategic Workflow Enhancements
As patterns in the data emerged with NoteGuardAI, Helping Hands used these insights to make strategic enhancements to their workflows. From modifying note templates and permissions to training adjustments, they implemented targeted improvements that supported both efficiency and documentation quality across the practice.
“Some techs were copying old notes into new timesheets. We wouldn’t have found that without NoteGuardAI. We updated permissions, so they can’t do that anymore.”
VP of Regulatory Affairs
Helping Hands Children Services Management
Documentation Quality & Clinical Alignment
Parent Training Documentation
Rule failure rates revealed inconsistencies in how parent training was being documented, prompting retraining. Beyond solely improving documentation, these insights also sparked meaningful conversations about clinical integrity and how the team is delivering these services. “Our parent training narratives were failing their rule 30 percent of the time. That feedback reshaped how we document and even how we talk about the service.”
Improving Clinical Intent in Notes
CR NoteGuardAI helped clarify for staff the importance of connecting session details in notes with specific treatment goals.
“We don’t need to just write that Johnny picked up a toy. We need to connect that behavior to a goal — what was prompted, what skill was demonstrated, how it relates to the plan.”
Operational Insights & Staff Development
HR, Compliance, and QA Integration
NoteGuardAI’s insights have become a key component of internal investigations. When concerns arise with specific staff, their notes are run through NoteGuardAI to generate detailed information on their session note compliance, which can be used to support staff coaching.
“I run every provider through NoteGuardAI during any compliance case. We pull their errors, use it in feedback, and even file it in their HR record.”
Time Savings for Clinical Directors
By replacing time-consuming manual audits with automated note auditing, our clinical directors save a substantial amount of time.
“I’m teaching my CDs how to use the tool. They won’t have to manually audit anymore; they can just review the exceptions served up in their queue.”
VP of Regulatory Affairs
Helping Hands Children Services Management
Helping Hands sees CR NoteGuardAI as a strategic asset. This tool helps them bolster their quality assurance practices, thereby increasing compliance and reducing audit and recoupment risks. It’s also enabled better staff training workflows and identification of staff who require additional coaching. The operational clarity has been unmatched. NoteGuardAI didn’t replace their compliance processes; it made them smarter and more scalable.
“There needs to be something like this [NoteGuardAI] everywhere — especially when most of your staff are entry-level. This protects everyone.”
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