“The main reason why I became a psychiatric nurse practitioner was to help people,” says Dr. Fabius Santos, who was just one semester away from completing a business degree when his grandmother passed away from cancer. “I switched to nursing, and it was the best decision I ever made.”
Ten years later, Dr. Santos is a psychiatric nurse practitioner, a doctor of nursing practice, and the founder and CEO of Optimal Psychiatry and Wellness in Nottingham, Maryland. His psychotropic medication management and therapy practice now includes 10 providers and serves more than 2,500 clients.
The challenge
“When I opened my practice, I was using Valant EHR, and it worked okay, but I wasn’t happy with the intake process,” says Dr. Santos. “For people with mental health issues, such as depression or anxiety, filling out paperwork is the last thing they want to do. Just to have the vulnerability or the courage to reach out and to schedule an appointment is hard enough. The intake process had to be simpler.
“And for me to grow from a solo provider into a practice with multiple clinicians, I needed a system that could scale.”
The solution
“I made the switch early on in my practice to Tebra. It made it as easy as possible to scale from one provider to ten, helped me spend more time with patients, and ensure they feel heard. I couldn’t be more grateful.”
The impact
With Tebra, Optimal Psychiatry has saved an estimated $232,000 each year in hidden costs:
- $195,000 saved in provider time for intake
- $32,500 saved in time managing labs and e-prescriptions
- $4,800 saved in admin time managing online reviews
Scaling operations with ease
The switch to Tebra has streamlined workflows for every member of the growing team.
“Moving from a large hospital software system to Tebra was a big—but welcome—change,” says Ariel Nickerson, Optimal Psychiatry’s medical director.
“With Tebra, everything is straightforward. If you need to add a note, you just add a note. There are not five different ways to get to that same exact option like the big systems. And I didn’t feel like I would ever miss anything because with Tebra, everything was right in front of me. The most impactful aspect of Tebra is the ease of ordering lab work and not having to go through an outside source. It’s all in the Tebra system, which is very nice.”
“Tebra is like our Bible,” adds office manager Reslie Cortez. “It guides our daily operations, makes communication with patients simple, and is very easy to navigate.”
For prescribers, efficiency is equally important. “Tebra allows me to send multiple medications at once, without having to order them one by one,” says Dr. Iyobosa Obasogie. “It saves time and keeps everything in one place.”
Building a practice—and a reputation
Dr. Santos also turned to Tebra to grow the visibility of his practice.
“At one point, we were really struggling with Google reviews,” he explains. “We weren’t able to really secure or facilitate them. Tebra’s platform automates patient review requests, which post directly to Google. That’s helped us attract more clients, and it’s boosted our website SEO.
Tebra helps my private practice grow by being easily scalable with an EHR platform that is easy to navigate. The e-prescribing is easy to use. The intake process is easy to use. The e-labs are all in one place too. And really, all the features work well together.”
Support when it matters
Optimal Psychiatry and Wellness is set up for growth from both the leadership vision and the technology support that Dr. Santos brings to the practice.
“My boss, Dr. Fabius Santos, is one of a kind,” says Dr. Obasogie. “His compassion, his leadership style, and his support for the growth of every provider. So it always feels good to come to work.
“With Tebra, you’re never left waiting 24 hours for help,” continues Dr. Obasogie. “There’s always someone available. It’s a good EHR whether you’re just starting out or already established.”
“The future of Optimal Psychiatry is exciting,” adds Nickerson. “I know we’re going to go far because Dr. Santos has the vision, and Tebra gives us the tools to keep growing.”
Growing a community of care
From the beginning, Dr. Santos has been open about the realities of practice ownership. Through his social media channels, he’s shared both challenges and small victories, inspiring other psychiatric nurse practitioners to launch their own practices.
“People message me saying they’ve opened their own practice or give me updates on what they’ve achieved,” he says. “It feels good knowing I’ve helped them understand the process. I always tell them: it’s not as easy as it looks, but if you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work.”
Looking ahead, Dr. Santos is focused on expanding access to care in his community. “We have a 4,000-square-foot location, and I’d love to fill every room with providers who can serve our patients. If I had to sum up what it feels like to run a thriving practice in one word, it would be gratitude.”
Cost savings breakdown*
Cost driver | Annual cost
- Extra provider time for intake: $195,000
- Complex e-prescribing & labs: $32,500
- Admin time managing reputation: $4,800
- Total hidden costs avoided with Tebra: $232,300/year
*Based on:
–Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner average hourly rate in Maryland: $65/hr
-Admin/operations support: $20/hr
-E-prescriving and labs: 1 hr/week per provider, 50 weeks/year, 10 providers
-New patient intake: 1 hr per patient, 300 patients/provider/year
-Admin time for patient review management: 2 hrs/month per provider
