Instead of having your clerical or billing staff key in visit charges, you can import charges from POC Assessments. Your Current Processes:
Benefits If You Change Your Process:
- Instead of spending time keying, your billers can review visits for accuracy and spend more time on chart audits to catch issues before billing.
- Revenue stream for visit charges can speed up dramatically when your clinicians lock visits promptly and your biller imports them regularly.
New Process Details:
Using the Import Visits feature is an easy way to stop a manual process (keying charges) and increase the speed of revenue from visits. This is an automated feature that requires very little change in processes. For clinical staff who do not use Barnestorm, data entry personnel can enter the visits into Barnestorm as usual.
One of the main things to consider before you start this process is simplifying the codes in your system to only the necessary ones. This makes it easier for clinicians to select the correct code. Review all the following codes to find which ones are not used, and which ones can be consolidated or eliminated. It's easier for clincians to select correct codes when there are fewer choices and the choices are plainly worded in terms that are easily understandable.
- Job Codes (Codes > Rates > Job Codes) - be sure these are labeled clearly and simple. To remove from POC, add "DNU" at the end of the description and Save.
- Visit Status Codes (Codes > Program Related Codes > Visit Status Codes) - be sure these are plainly worded, simple, and on a short list. To remove from POC, add "DNU" at the end of the description and Save.
- Assessment Type (Codes > POC Codes > Note Codes > Visit > Type) - be sure these are plainly worded, simple, and on a short list. To remove from POC, inactivate by uncheckings "Active" for the assessment types you want to remove. Be sure not to delete items that have been used on previous visits.
We have several reports (see list below) that allow you to track visit status, as well as the report that comes up when visits are imported.
Suggestion on how to start this process:
- Set a date for the cutover to import visits (this date will be put into setting 1510--more info below). The date should be the first day of a billing week.
- Review all the following codes to find which ones are not used, and which ones can be consolidated or eliminated. It's easier for clincians to select correct codes when there are fewer choices.
- Job Codes (Codes > Rates > Job Codes) - be sure these are labeled clearly and simple. To remove from POC, add "DNU" at the end of the description and Save.
- Visit Status Codes (Codes > Program Related Codes > Visit Status Codes) - be sure these are plainly worded, simple, and on a short list. To remove from POC, add "DNU" at the end of the description and Save.
- Assessment Type (Codes > POC Codes > Note Codes > Visit > Type) - be sure these are plainly worded, simple, and on a short list. To remove from POC, delete, but be sure not to delete items that have been used on previous visits.
- Have the biller do an in-service with clinicians to explain the correct codes to select at the beginning of the visit. (NOTE: This is not necessary if you use the Barnestorm Schedule, as clinicians launch visits with the codes in place with the Schedule. If you use Barnestorm Schedule, the biller should review coding with whoever creates the clinical schedules).
- Set the global settings in Codes > Security > Global Settings > Visit Entry:
- 1510: Load Visits Cut off Date--set to match the cutover date you specified (the first date of a billing week)
- 1501: Default Visits Import in Days--set to how many days you want between locking and importing to billing. We recommend keeping this as short as possible, Preferably 4 days or less.
- 1500: Load Visits From Assessments--change to True when ready to switchover
- Cut over to importing.
- Billers will now review entries to find any coding issues, rather than keying charges.
- If any clinician has a habit of selecting incorrect codes, the biller should train them again on code selection, and/or remind them via Messaging of which codes to select.
Checks and Balances:
When the visits are imported, a report comes up showing all the visits that are being imported. Print this sheet and highlight any with coding issues so that you may correct them and let the clinician know that they coded incorrectly.
Related Reports:
02.52 All Unlocked Assessments for PPS
02.57 List of Incomplete Visits
02.63 Print Visits Imported
02.05 Employee Time Report
Unlocked Visits
Related Articles:
Correct Visit Info: http://kb.barnestorm.biz/KnowledgebaseArticle50647.aspx