Charge capture, while a fundamental component of the healthcare billing process, can often be the bottleneck in accelerating revenue flow. The traditional reliance on paper or spreadsheets not only prolongs the revenue cycle but often leads to errors, missed charges, and increased charge lag.

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The Impact of Charge Lag on Revenue

What is charge lag? Charge lag is the delay between the time a service is provided and when the charge for that service is entered into the billing system. A shorter charge lag means the practice can bill for services sooner, thus receiving reimbursement more quickly. It's a straightforward concept, but its implications on the revenue cycle are profound.

Every day a charge is delayed is a day of postponed revenue. This not only affects cash flow but can also increase the risk of missing filing deadlines with payers, resulting in denied claims. Ultimately, extended charge lag can amount to significant revenue leakage for practices.

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The Downfalls of Paper and Spreadsheets

Traditional billing setups, especially those reliant on paper or spreadsheets, inherently increase charge lag. Why?

• Inefficiencies and Errors: Manually transferring data from paper to a digital system, or even navigating within large spreadsheets, is time-consuming and error-prone. A mistyped code or overlooked line item can lead to billing discrepancies, requiring corrections that further delay charge entry.
• Lack of Real-Time Updates: When relying on physical paper or localized spreadsheets, real-time updates or access to centralized data become challenging. This can lead to delays in logging charges, especially if the responsible staff is away or occupied with other tasks.
• Vulnerability to Loss: Physical sheets can get misplaced. Spreadsheets saved on local drives can get accidentally deleted or corrupted. Such mishaps not only delay the billing process but can sometimes lead to missing out on charges entirely.

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Modern Charge Capture Platforms

Switching to a contemporary platform, like the one offered by pMD, offers practices a way to drastically reduce charge lag. Here's how:

• Instantaneous Data Entry: Modern charge capture systems allow providers to immediately enter data, often directly at the point of care. This immediate entry drastically reduces the time between service provision and charge logging.
• Centralized Access: With cloud-based platforms, data is accessible from any device, anywhere, ensuring that the billing process is not halted due to location constraints or accessibility issues.
• Built-in Error Checks: Advanced platforms come with error-checking mechanisms, alerting users to potential discrepancies or omitted entries, ensuring accuracy, and reducing the need for time-consuming corrections downstream.
• Data Security: Unlike paper or isolated spreadsheets, modern systems offer robust data backup and security features, ensuring that charge data is both safe and consistently accessible.

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Reducing charge lag is more than just about billing efficiency—it's improtant for the overall financial health of medical practices. By shifting away from outdated paper and spreadsheet methods and embracing modern charge capture platforms such as pMD pCharge™, practices stand to not only streamline their operations but also significantly enhance their revenue streams.

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How pMD^® Can Help

At pMD^®, our mission is to streamline and optimize the patient care episode and the revenue cycle. Through our advanced, end-to-end practice management and revenue cycle solutions, we can help practices consolidate vendors, reduce costs, streamline workflows, improve patient care and satisfaction, and collect their maximum reimbursement more quickly.

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Not sure what a vendor could do to improve your behavioral health billing? Contact pMD^® for a no-commitment financial impact analysis by our team of healthcare RCM experts free of charge!

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