Outpatient Facility Coding Alert

Published on Thu Apr 24, 2014 PDF

Electronic charge capture process can increase your return on investment.

Accurate charge capture can get complicated because you’re constantly dealing with different insurers and unique billing requirements. Your goal is to have accurate, complete, and immediate charge capture of all the services and supplies provided for each patient. Follow six steps to boost your electronic charge capture (ECC) success in less time. 

An optimally designed ECC can:

• Quickly and easily record charges for services delivered at the clinic or hospital or anywhere at the site of care, on mobile devices like smart phones, tablets, or web portals through a computer 
• Suggest the diagnoses from an existing drop down menu
• Provide searchable CPT® and ICD codes
• Automatically check for coding errors
• Supply a user-friendly automated workflow for submitting the bills
• Allow for easy communication through messaging with designated billing staff.

A case study: The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston shifted its charge capture process from paper-based capture to electronic capture. The institute which handles about 842,000 patient statements annually--processing about 1.2 million claims each year--found the electronic charge capture much easier and financially meaningful as compared to the paper-based capture.   The institution evidenced a whopping $500,000 increase in average daily cash posting in less than two years after shifting to electronic process.