Ryerson's Documentation Counsel Delivers Millions of Dollars Through Accurate Surgical Billing

May 04, 2010 - Download Word Doc

AKRON, Ohio (May 4, 2010) - Many healthcare organizations miss millions of dollars in surgical billings by failing to properly document all services rendered.

Ryerson Healthcare Consultants is the nation's leader in emergency department improvement and revenue capture. Because hospitals' fiscal health depends on being paid for all services rendered, a major focus of Ryerson's consultation is recouping lost charges for emergency and surgical services departments through better documentation.

"Proper documentation is the lifeblood of a healthy healthcare system," said President Peter Ryerson. "Documentation drives revenue, compliance and overall improvement."

Ryerson's leadership in emergency department improvement and revenue capture resulted in a natural progression into surgical services departments. Like ERs, surgical services departments have complex billing protocols and staffers who often are not trained adequately in those protocols.

As medical revenue specialists, Ryerson has succeeded in recouping hundreds of millions in lost revenue for more than 500 U.S. hospitals. The problem Ryerson typically uncovers is inadequate documentation that results in unbilled services.

Suzanne Gomochak, Ryerson's surgical department improvement specialist, said the company's Surgical Services Revenue Capture Program helps hospitals take advantage of regulations permitting them to bill for all performed services that are documented. The program is so effective that Ryerson bills on a contingency basis, and only gets paid when lost revenue is recaptured.

"Many managers are handcuffed by a lack of tools and information to tie together documentation, coding and surgical billing," Gomochak said. "This results in incomplete documentation and surgical billing that fails to capture all rendered services."

The potential for increased surgical billing revenue through proper documentation can add up to millions of dollars for an average-size hospital.

Hospital leadership is often unaware of the dollars lost to poor documentation, and the resulting incomplete surgical billing. Ryerson is so confident in its process that it only needs to audit 12 charts to estimate the total revenue being lost by a hospital in a year.

Documentation also is vital to reducing hospitals' exposure to Recovery Audit Contractor recoupments. "We can reduce your fear of RAC auditors looking for surgical billings that have no documentation," Gomochak said.

Operating room directors, medical directors, business managers and others involved in the OR can gain more counsel from Ryerson about improving documentation to maximize surgical billing at the OR Business Management Conference May 12-14 in San Francisco.

Contact: Peter Ryerson

Ryerson Healthcare Consultants

330-670-6900

Email Peter Ryerson