Case Study: Hospice of Okeechobee achieves reduced charting overtime, improved compliance and hurricane-ready documentation with Brightree Hospice

Getting the technology right removes all barriers to success for rural agency

Hospice of Okeechobee, a small rural agency in central Florida led by CEO Gail Gerntrup, needed to move off paper and adopt an EMR that supported clinician workflows, round‑the‑clock charting for its inpatient unit, and reliable operation during frequent hurricanes. The main challenge was finding a simple, hospice‑focused system that matched how nurses document and could function in low‑connectivity, emergency situations.

The agency implemented Brightree Hospice on laptops and iPads, giving clinicians portable, logical assessment workflows and offline sync capability. The change delivered measurable gains — charting overtime fell from 20% to 5%, paper and other costs dropped (≈15%), reporting and compliance improved, and the system remained fully operational through Hurricane Irma — contributing to better documentation speed/accuracy, higher clinician retention, more patient time, and multiple Hospice Honors Elite awards.

Hospice of Okeechobee

Gail Gerntrup

Chief Executive Officer