The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center wants to improve coding and billing management and ease the administrative workload of its nurses. Two new service modules offered by MedAptus may be just what the doctors ordered.
M.D. Anderson, one of the world's top-ranked comprehensive cancer care centers, is implementing Facility Charge Capture and the Infusion Services Module, two software sets offered by the Boston-based provider of point-of-care charge capture technologies. The two solutions are add-ons to MedAptus' Professional Charge Capture technology suite, which M.D. Anderson has been using since 2005.
With Facility Charge Capture, M.D. Anderson plans to manage all technical charges, from collaborative capture at point-of-care to reconciliation, coding and compliance tasks in the back office. Using the Infusion Services Module, which is an add-on component of Facility Charge Capture, nurses need only enter all infusion services delivered, and the system will translate the input into compliant codes.
The two modules are designed to automate the usual paper-based processes of coding and point-of-care charge capture, streamlining and improving the workflow and giving healthcare providers less administrative duties and more time to spend with patients.
"As the regulations governing billing for infusion services are complex and change annually, achieving full reimbursement for services rendered and materials utilized is extremely challenging in a paper-based environment," said Lori English, associate director of patient business services at M.D. Anderson, in a press release. "We are very excited to deploy the MedAptus solutions because our experience says that automation is key to efficient, accurate and complete charge capture processes. With enhanced reconciliation ability, we will have tremendous control that ensures no services or procedures are missed, and that a patient's entire visit is coded compliantly."
M.D. Anderson will be rolling out the desktop-based technologies to eight infusion centers, in which more than 100 nurses deliver more than 200 infusions each day, between now and this summer. The solutions will include dashboard reconciliation functionality, allowing for further streamlining of charge review, approval and transmission processes. In addition, M.D. Anderson will be able to use MedAptus' Cross Reconciliation Engine, which allows for data analysis of entered charges to identify overlooked opportunities.
Following implementation of the Infusion Services Module, M.D. Anderson plans to roll out Facility Charge Capture to more than 25 departments that deliver outpatient services.
More than 500 healthcare providers at M.D. Anderson now use Professional Charge Capture. A study undertaken by the center indicates that tool has saved the center at least $7 million since its implementation.
"Given M.D. Anderson's success in achieving enterprise-wide adoption of Professional Charge Capture with highly demonstrable results, deployment of Facility Charge Capture in concert with the Infusion Services Module will leverage and extend these gains in ambulatory services areas enterprise-wide," said David Delaney, MD, MedAptus' chief medical officer. "Also of utmost importance is that these technologies will greatly diminish time-consuming administrative overhead for busy clinical staff."