Ensuring Correct Charging Practices with Chargemaster Management

With hospital Chargemasters getting more focus, revenue cycle leaders should assess how they conduct Chargemaster management to ensure money is not left on the table and to ensure they have competitive and compliant charges. When assessing this process, there are some essential hospital Chargemaster management best practices to keep in mind.

Codes

Updating codes and deciding on charges are the foundation for hospital Chargemaster management. Hospital leaders begin by comparing an internal list of codes for billable services with those used by payers for claims reimbursement. Getting the codes correct is step one because it doesn’t matter what amount is charged if you’re charging the wrong codes.

Charges

Once revenue cycle leaders update codes as part of their Chargemaster management, they should determine how much to charge for each service. That’s where it’s beneficial to have someone who can talk with the clinical professionals about what they are doing and then determine whether it is chargeable. After identifying all chargeable services, revenue leaders then compare that to how much their competitors are charging for the same services to create a competitive and fair price.

Getting Clinicians Onboard Maintaining accurate codes and charges is a fundamental part of hospital Chargemaster management and Chargemaster management solutions, but so is connecting with the clinical side to ensure effective use of the Chargemaster. Revenue professionals recommend clinicians access the Chargemaster and interact with it to identify service charges and codes. By doing this, clinicians can start a conversation about adding or revising codes without having to wait until the revenue cycle team notices a coding and payment inaccuracy.

Customized Charge Cycle Solutions

MedCom’s consulting process and Chargemaster software solutions have saved hundreds of millions of dollars for healthcare organizations for the last 35 years.

Proven to reduce denials, enhance revenues and sustain results, MedCom specializes in OR Charge Optimization and 835 Payment & Denial Trending Analytics in addition to a variety of CDM Management and Charge Capture Services.

To learn more or to get started, visit our homepage or contact us today!