Executive Briefing: Leading Alignment Through Data Improvement
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Sponsored by:
Increased Transparency Necessitates
Chargemaster, Revenue Integrity
By Michael Najera, Vice President of Professional Services, Craneware
T
he Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is greatly impacting how leadership — both inside and outside of healthcare organizations — view healthcare data. To promote transparency,
on May 8, HHS published hospital charge data to the public, with no
context for understanding that data. Charge data is the information used
in hospital and healthcare claim documents, a central part of the revenue
cycle. In effect, the publishing of hospitals' charge data served to fan the
flames of controversy. This unprecedented action intensifies the urgency
that healthcare organizations ensure their data is ready for prime-time
examination. The requirement of greater visibility and data governance
in healthcare organizations of all sizes is driven by regulations, reductions
and reform, coupled with the need to mitigate serious compliance risk
from data errors. All in all, this presents an extraordinary opportunity for
healthcare leaders to drive change by improving their organizations' data
quality and integrity.
All healthcare leaders know they must find ways to increase operational efficiency and optimize appropriate revenue while remaining competitive and
compliant. Understandably, leaders are challenged in how to best achieve
these reform goals, particularly in a transparent way.
Where to start? Charge data is an excellent place to begin. Charges reside in the chargemaster, which is the central control point in the revenue
cycle. Charge data must be current, correct, normalized and compliant.
If not managed on an ongoing basis by a dedicated team supported by
current reference information and software tools, healthcare organizations
C R A N E W A R E . C O M
Are you ready to
begin your journey?
