Charge capture, in its simplest form, can be defined as capturing a claim on a device. Look a little deeper and you’ll find a much more complex and intricate tool that, on further examination, is actually a revenue cycle management (RCM) utility/tool.

Not only does charge capture help manage the full life cycle of hospital charges, it also helps manage groups of billers and coders, making sure they are correctly managing insurance verification and reviewing medical documentation. In turn, charge capture maximizes your revenue and accurately and efficiently captures the most accurate ICD-10 codes with the highest specificity.

To break it down a little more, here’s a simple list of five reasons you should be using charge capture right now:

1. Lost Charges
2. Missed Charges
3. No More Facesheets
4. Speed of Revenue Cycle
5. ICD-10 Refinement

Losing Your Charges

Misplacing something is a recurring issue for many people. For doctors, however, it can mean the difference between getting paid or not. Charge capture helps eliminate this common mistake by doing away with paper and storing patient information in integrated systems, where it is easily and readily accessible.

Missed Charges

Providers lives are chaotic, which can result in a few missteps along the way. Similar to losing charges, misplacing of patient information or failing to enter claims is, unfortunately, not an uncommon occurrence. Charge capture gives providers the ability to stay organized and grants easy access to patient information that might otherwise be missing. To put this into perspective, hospitals lose $20,000-$40,000 per doctor due to lost or missing charges on a yearly average.

No More Facesheets

Hospital facesheets consist of patient demographic, insurance, and guarantor information. Charge capture interfaces with hospital EMR systems to receive facesheet data that aids doctors and billers, depending on the practice. Essentially, charge capture saves money, time, and resources by converting hospital and patient data into an electronic format, making life easier for doctors and billers alike.  

Increasing the Speed of the Revenue Cycle

Charge lag has long been an issue facing doctors and their earnings. Through charge capture, doctors are able to capture charges at the point-of-care, reduce charge lag, identify potential missing charges and documentation, improve ICD-10 compliance with the highest level of specificity available, and decrease overall revenue collection time.

Refining ICD-10

ICD-10 has been a daunting transition, resulting in concerns involving financial risk. The main issues associated with the transition to ICD-10 were/are larger sets of codes, which makes it harder to find the correct code, and avoiding unspecified codes when a code with higher specificity is much more accurate. Charge capture aids in refining and documenting codes properly, reducing denials, and avoiding ICD-10 reimbursement risks, ensuring maximization of revenue.

A Better Understanding of Charge Capture

There you have it! Charge capture is an easy enough topic to understand once you have a comprehension of how it can help you effectively run the business side of your practice. By eliminating the potential of lost and missing charges, ensuring accurate and timely sharing of information between doctors and billers, increasing the speed of the revenue cycle, and ensuring that ICD-10 codes are accurate and specific, charge capture helps you ensure that you are maximizing your revenue and running your practice as efficiently as possible. All so that you have more time to focus on what matters most: your patients.

See how MediMobile's charge capture technology can benefit you.

Attending SHM '17? We'd love to see you!