Approximately 170 physicians affiliated with the Phoenix Children’s Hospital will soon find more time to spend with their patients, thanks to the implementation of a new software system to automate coding and billing.
MedAptus, a Boston-based developer of charge capture solutions, announced on Wednesday that Phoenix Children’s, Arizona’s only licensed children’s hospital and one of the 10 largest free-standing pediatric hospitals in the country, will deploy the company’s Enterprise Edition software, which covers professional, facility and infusion services. Physicians at the hospital and its outpatient clinics will be able to use the software for both inpatient and outpatient charge capture.
“In a challenging economy, children's hospitals find themselves contending with lower reimbursement from payers and higher patient deductibles. Between those realities, and increasing regulation such as recovery audit contracting, it is essential for provider organizations to fine-tune their approaches to revenue cycle management and coding compliance,” said Derrick E. Parker, senior vice president of practice operations for the Phoenix Children’s Hospital Medical Group. “We found MedAptus to be an attractive solution because the tools they offer address many of the issues we face and need to be proactive about. In addition, we expect that our clinicians will enjoy using the MedAptus system for its resulting productivity gains and easier access to vital data points such as patient history.”
“Welcoming Phoenix Children's Hospital as the newest MedAptus client is especially exciting because in addition to being our first freestanding children's hospital customer, we will be playing an important role in what is essentially a complete business process transformation,” said Rick Little, MedAptus' vice president of client services. “We anticipate a successful roll-out that will benefit the hospital's talented providers across many levels as well as help the organization meet clearly defined operational and financial objectives.”
Phoenix officials say the hospital, which provides care across more than 40 specialties, is undergoing significant growth and will use the MedAptus technology to streamline front- and back-office operations. It will also enable physicians to code their encounters more accurately, MedAptus officials say, thus reducing the time spent on billing processes and the time it takes for payment.
Company officials say Enterprise Edition ensures compliance and revenue integrity across different elements of a single patient visit , including complex visits such as chemotherapy treatment.