It is critically important to capture and properly submit claims for all professional services rendered by all providers associated with hospital operations. Whether related to Emergency Department or Urgent Care Part B services rendered, or professional fee services rendered by hospital-employed physicians, or by providers making rounds to visit inpatients, hospital charge capture is often an area where significant opportunity exists to improve reimbursements.
For hospital-affiliated, independent physicians, rounding lists are typically faxed daily to each affiliated practice, with providers inefficiently organizing their rounding from printed copies of those lists. CPT and diagnosis information is then typically recorded manually on cards or in some other paper form, for later submittal to billing staff, inefficiently and inconsistently.
Similar paper-based systems are often used by hospital-employed providers, with similar results in terms of lost charges and delays in claim submittal. In many cases, providers respond to such paper-based, low technology solutions by avoiding the charge capture process entirely, which results in serious revenue loss.
Precision specializes in supporting the implementation and revenue cycle management of hospital charge capture systems, both in terms of implementing the technology itself and in training providers and support staff on the proper workflow required to easily and completely ensure the capture of all charges.
The investment required to make critical gains in this area is not a substantial one, as software solutions are available that easily pay for themselves, and do so quickly. Providers will appreciate being able to capture their charges on an iPhone or iPad, from rounding lists that are online for their viewing.
Providers can also have CPT and diagnosis information automatically download for entry into the practice management system of their choice.
Precision can help analyze the gains to be made from a more efficient hospital charge capture system, and can then take full responsibility for implementing the chosen system and realizing the targeted return on the investment made.
"My pediatric practice, Children's Clinic, has worked closely with Precision for many years in an effective partnership that has contributed greatly to the management of our practice. In order to best serve patients, the "business side" of things must run extremely well. Precision appeals insurance low pays on drugs and provider services, communicates coding updates and specialty-related and billing changes, tracks office collection of copays and patient balances, compares our coding levels to national distributions and identifies our denial and rejection issues, to name just a few. Monthly meetings with Precision allow us to review month end reports, identify opportunities for improvement and constantly "raise the bar" on our performance as a practice. In today's difficult economic environment, Precision is a business partner we can count on."
