Practice administrators and providers face many challenges together, from patient satisfaction to employee turnover to liability concerns. Revenue cycle management is a major one. If providers see patients in the hospital or other facilities as well as in the clinic, the challenge of managing revenue properly is compounded by the need for effective charge capture. In fact, according to the Healthcare Financial Management Association, “Provider organizations’ leading challenges in the revenue cycle are missing and lagging charges.”
How can practice administrators help set providers up for success when it comes to charge capture? Here are five strategies:
Set Expectations
With everything else going on in a provider’s day, it can be easy to put charge capture at the bottom of the list. But as Richard Williams and Matt Jackson remind us in their presentation Strategies for Auditing & Improving the Charge Capture Process, “Financial success is directly dependent upon accurately charging for services rendered.”
It can help to start by setting expectations for both providers and the revenue cycle team, and then sticking to them. Lay out a clear plan and address the following:
- Who is responsible for charge capture
- What the time limits for charge capture entry and signing off on supporting documentation are
- A method and time limits for addressing questions and discrepancies
- A clear audit and audit review plan
Understand Everyone’s Workflow
The best way to understand someone’s workflow is to experience it, rather than relying on emails or phone calls. Taking the time to follow providers as they round can help identify issues and limitations they’re facing on the front end so that those can be dealt with proactively.
Make Things as Easy as Possible
Once expectations are clear, it helps to make them as easy as possible to achieve. Coding can be complicated and payer requirements are ever-shifting. Administrators can make things easier for everyone by providing a standard tool for charge capture. Software charge capture solutions are ideal for this purpose, as they can be customized for the needs of your practice and updated on the fly. You can read about ways to customize charges for your practice in the article Hack Your SuperBill.
Connect Providers and the Revenue Cycle Team
A medical practice is only as successful as the team that runs it. Your revenue cycle team, whether in-house or not, is a critical part of this process. Providing a means for communication both ways ensures that billers get what they need and providers can ask questions when they’re not sure about the best path forward.
Track Trends and Reconcile
The adage “You don’t know what you don’t know” applies here. Taking the time to establish a clear and consistent audit program allows you to identify trends and uncover problem areas. As important as the revenue cycle is to a practice, providers receive comparatively little training about effective coding and charge capture. If they don’t realize they’re missing something or that standards have changed, they’ll keep making the same mistake over and over.
By taking the time to identify problematic trends, you can both educate providers and look for creative ways to configure your practices’ charge capture solution to prevent mistakes from happening in the first place.
HybridChart is a complete software rounding solution created by a doctor to address real-world problems, including effective charge capture. We believe in a partnership approach with our clients and can help you find solutions to meet your practice’s specific needs. Come take a tour today and see how HybridChart can address some common pain points for practice administrators.
Meet EVOLVE by HybridChart – Our fourth generation software platform.
Take control of your entire workflow through a user-friendly solution created by a physician. Medical software too often fails to address the specific needs of providers. Rounding at one or more hospitals presents a unique challenge. There is the need for effective team collaboration and easy charge capture. Census management means true collaboration among provider and staff. Rounding at multiple facilities just got way easier.
Covering on-call now has the luxury of essential information for clean hand-offs.Charge capture takes less than five seconds. Diagnoses are easy to find and follow the patient. Customized charge menus make it easy to enter the correct charge. Don’t let billing for your work slow you down. Charge in real-time and focus on caring for the patient.
HybridChart has numerous levels of safeguards against missed charges. The Charge Checker feature will scan every day of an admission and assure there are charges. Using the Charge Matrix you have visibility of all charges from multiple providers per day for any given patient.
Most practices see a revenue increase of 8-10% after using HybridChart – attributed to capturing every charge for every patient. Charges are complex enough with just the diagnosis codes and charge codes. To make your charges accurate HybridChart allows you to easily adjust the Date of Service and assign Secondary Billers such as nurse-practitioners and physician assistants. Modifiers can be built into specific Billing Modules or choose from a customized list managed by your practice. Seamlessly navigate our Charge Capture workflow and save time without losing accuracy.
An automated charge capture system may be the most profitable investment that you can make in your practice today.
You can instantly boost your revenue by 10% using our modern, high-tech and easy-to-implement charge capture system.
Smarter Rounding and Workflow Software for Doctors
At HybridChart, we provide technology that connects your healthcare team, increases efficiencies, AND improves your bottom line. HybridChart’s cloud-based software adapts to your practice’s unique workflow and will improve your profitability and patient outcomes by utilizing our 5 features:census management, charge capture, secure messaging, discharge management, and data analytics.
NEVER miss another charge and get PAID for the work you do!
If you are interested in taking your medical practice to the next level and want to employ the best hospital charge capture practice available in the industry, come visit our website at www.hybridchart.com, or call us at 1-877-684-0608 for a demo today!
