Any healthcare administrator overseeing a medical practice knows the importance of accurate patient billing. Overcharges can mean valuable time spent researching the error, updating forms, rebilling — not to mention having an unhappy patient. Missed charges, of course, mean immediate lost revenue. Both types of charges translate into time wasted and could be signs of greater inefficiencies.

So a well-defined, efficient charge-capture process is critical to any healthcare organization. Regardless of the charge-capture process and software that your office uses, it pays to step back every once in a while and take a hard look at your overall approach.

For example, are your inpatient and outpatient charge sheets accurate and up to date? Is there a well-defined process for taking information from patients when they come into your office? How is that information passed along and added to as the patient proceeds through his or her exam? And are all the appropriate steps being taken when the patient checks out? Is everyone on your staff aware of their roles in this process? Can the process be revised in any way to make their roles easier to perform?

A worthwhile analysis of any charge-capture process requires good organization. You must gather data from the right sources, document it properly, analyze it, and share it. You must assign, track, and solve problems that you spot. You can use Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2003 diagrams to clearly illustrate process flows and to highlight gaps in your assessment plan and your current charge-capture process. And Microsoft Office Excel 2003 worksheets can be very helpful as you track issues that arise.

Consider the following tips, tools, and templates as you examine and improve your medical office's charge-capture process.

• Improve the medical office charge-capture process (Article)
  Find out ways to fine-tune your charge-capture process to have more accurate patient billing.
• Medical office charge-capture assessment form (Template)
  Use this template to organize and document your charge-capture assessment.
• Current charge-capture process flow (Template)
  Use this Visio template to diagram your current charge-capture process.
• Charge-capture assessment process flow (Template)
  Use this Visio template to diagram your charge-capture assessment flow.
• Medical office charge-capture issue report (Template)
  Identify and track issues that arise during your assessment by using this Excel template.
• Outpatient encounter form (Template)
  Incorporate this Excel template into your charge-capture process to track charges throughout an outpatient visit.
• Inpatient encounter form (Template)
  Use this Excel template to track charges accumulated during an inpatient visit.