Improve Hospital Charge Capture

July 12, 2010 - Download Word Doc

AKRON, Ohio (July 12, 2010) - Hospitals can gain significant revenue by improving documentation of services and procedures and instituting better material management practices.

That's the counsel from Ryerson Healthcare Consultants, medical revenue specialists and the nation's leader in emergency department process improvement. The Ryerson organization serves clients with hospital charge capture experience gained through working with more than 540 hospitals in 40 states.

Whether they are working on clients' surgical services or emergency department charge capture, Ryerson's experts tailor improvement recommendations to fit each hospital's specific challenges.

"OR and ED operations are uniquely complex, and staff in both areas tend to experience problems in properly documenting, coding and billing for all chargeable procedures and supplies," said President Peter Ryerson. "Our team of hospital charge capture specialists includes people who have considerable experience as RNs in both areas, with track records of success in successfully improving their client hospitals' revenues."

Such experience and knowledge is invaluable for hospital charge capture improvement, the goal for the majority of Ryerson Healthcare Consultants' clients. Ryerson said his team develops solutions that result in improvements to the charge protocol and hospital charge capture process.

"In many, if not most, cases, it comes down to strengthening our clients' documentation and billing processes," Ryerson said. "We find that many hospitals lack the tools and information necessary to properly document, code and bill. The obvious result is billing that fails to capture all of the services that are rendered."

He said refining the documentation and charge processes and training managers and staff in the proper procedures can result in significant gains in both OR and ED charge capture. In many cases, such gains can transform a money-losing surgical services or emergency department into a reliable profit center.

Ryerson's team also works on strengthening material management procedures. Relying on time-proven protocols, Ryerson develops best-practice material management processes and helps its client hospitals institute them. Ryerson also guides training of staff and managers in the value of remaining in compliance with the procedures.

"We also find that improving communication between the financial managers and the clinical staff pays great dividends," he said. "When the financial people and clinicians understand each others roles in achieving profitability, we see time after time that this enhances the hospital's ability to effectively cost and bill for provided services."

Contact: Peter Ryerson

Ryerson Healthcare Consultants

330-670-6900

PRyerson@RyersonHealthcareConsultants.com