Improving charge capture to increase net revenue.

Although a decreasing percentage of hospital revenue continues to be based on total charges, providers can still significantly increase net revenue through a process of evaluating and improving current charge structures, charge capture procedures, and service delivery methods. After reviewing various reasons why hospitals fail to capture charges adequately, the authors present a systematic methodology for reviewing all revenue producing departments to identify opportunities for successfully addressing charge capture problems. This methodology, known as the clinical pricing approach, can improve the accuracy of internal cost accounting and have a positive net revenue impact of from one percent to three percent of gross revenue.