Medical Documentation - Still A Key To Reimbursement

Online, July 29, 2013 (Newswire.com) - Any Hospital that is currently looking to compete in today's market is struggling. In the last several years, a paradigm shift has occurred in the medical industry. Thanks, in large part, to Medicare and Medicaid requirements, many insurance companies have joined in with changing how medical institutions receive their compensation.medical documentation, medicare reimbursement, hospital reimbursement, coding education

From small, private or rural ambulance companies, all the way up to the largest medical systems, including national leaders in medicine, everyone is now being measured by patient satisfaction.

And while this shift has created a so-called "run for the money," situation, causing many hospitals to completely over haul their training and focus, we still can't lose focus on the basics. Simple medical documentation can still vastly affect medical reimbursement.

Let's consider some examples, and see how medical documentation will make, or break, your institution's bottom line.

First, consider the example of a patient who develops a medical problem regarding something besides their primary reason for the stay. For example, if a patient comes into the hospital with a life-threatening condition such as stroke or heart problems, this becomes a very costly visit.

If, in the course of that visit, the patient receives a urinary catheter, and later develops a urinary tract infection, this will greatly affect the hospital's reimbursement for that visit. However, if the admitting doctor completes documentation that accurately shows the patient had signs or symptoms of that infection upon their arrival, before any medical treatment had begun, the hospital is able to procure their entire reimbursement.

Even going back to the basics. We've all heard the expression when it comes to medical documentation, "If it wasn't documented, then it didn't happen."

If a difficult or unwieldy medical documentation system is preventing your staff, be they nursing assistants or specialized physicians, it can radically affect your institution's reimbursement.
medical documentation, medicare reimbursement, hospital reimbursement, coding education