Automated charge capture at the point of care increases revenue.

Group practices can reduce lost charges, denied claims, and time-to-billing rates by using automated charge capture at the point of service. One orthopedic department had been experiencing many process-related problems associated with physician charge capture. To improve revenues, the physicians began using hand-held devices to input data during patients' office visits. A 12-month analysis of charge data from the orthopedic physicians' outpatient visits using a paper-based charge process showed that 824 outpatient charges had been missed or lost, representing 6 percent of the department's annual outpatient activity and more than $54,000 in projected additional revenue. Another analysis conducted after the automated charge-capture process at the point of care was implemented showed that the orthopedic department had not missed any charges.