As hospitals and health systems strive to achieve efficient cash flow, they should focus on clinical documentation and ensure accurate coding, according to Dexter D'Costa, MD, senior director of clinical documentation improvement at Conifer Health Solutions.
Dr. D'Costa shared the following tip with Becker's Hospital Review: Quality care is increasingly tied to healthy revenue through accurate documentation. This contributes to efficient cash flow and optimizes claims processing from payers that are considering factors beyond traditional length of stay. As insurers turn more toward a Medicare-based, Medicare Severity-Diagnosis Related Group payment model, incomplete and inaccurate documentation can result in lower payments. The spike in the growth of ACOs, also based on the hierarchical condition category payment model similar to the Medicare/DRG payment model, is also spurring the need for more accurate and thorough coding.
Click here for more information about improving cash flow.
If you would like to share your RCM best practices, please email Kelly Gooch at kgooch@beckershealthcare.com to be featured in the "RCM tip of the day" series.
More articles on finance:
4 questions with Billings Clinic director of patient financial services Clay Fosjord
Partners CFO: We will 'evaluate' Care New England deal if no early sign of profits
SC medical center seeks city aid for $50M in projects