Thursday, January 7, 2010

ROI with Automating the Documentation and Coding Process

As medical practices make the jump towards electronic medical records, they will notice a temporary decline in the ability to see the same number of patients as before. Many factors go into the decreased number of patients, ranging from the physicians' ability and knowledge of computers to the way they govern their patient workflow. All new aspects of your EHR system flow downstream and affect the efficient of your billing and reimbursement.

Even if a physician is very comfortable with computers and has fully grasped their new EHR system, a key hindrance to efficient charting is rooted in the requirement of manual input during and after the patient interaction. Accurate documentation and coding is essential. Unfortunately most documentation systems are manual and even after the documentation is complete the physician must apply the proper CPT and ICD codes to send to the billing office.

Automation can reduce the inefficiencies and human errors that plague most documentation and coding processes, mitigating the risk of lost revenue, and speed the revenue cycle by eliminating the delays that occur due to missing or incomplete documentation. Automation can also reduce costs associated with transcription, chart storage, and streamline your documentation directly to your billing office.