The Hospital Chargemaster
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When it comes to hospitals and health clinics, the chargemaster, also known as the charge description master, is often considered the device that runs the revenue for the healthcare system. For every billing cycle, there is a charge review from within the chargemaster that looks into who needs to be billed and for how much, which then generates the needed revenue for the hospital. Health care chargemaster systems typically contain anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 entries, all of which become the starting point for accurate and necessary public reporting of billing towards patients and insurers.
Keeping the Chargemaster Updated
Although the healthcare system is the lifeblood of society here in the United States, it is also a functioning business model that operates on important revenue streams. Just like any business, a hospital or clinic operates on accurate billing, patient satisfaction, and regulatory operations to stay in business. It is important to make sure that your chargemaster operates efficiently and correctly, so it is important to keep it maintained and updated to meet the increasing and ever-changing demands of the healthcare system where your hospital or clinic operates.
About Chargemaster Maintenance
Every chargemaster has a lot of components that can be difficult to understand and set up correctly the first time. Additionally, by failing to keep all of these separate components updated can lead to possible failures in the healthcare environment at your hospital or clinic. Additionally, since the chargemaster is full of CPT codes, revenue codes, and pricing models, it is important to ensure that every new charge that is inputted into the chargemaster is done so to reflect everything that is already there.
Ongoing Transparency
Similar to how businesses function and operate, hospitals and clinics need to be able to provide the correct amount of transparency to their patients as well as the state and federal governments. These transparency requirements change every so often, so it is vital that your chargemaster continues to be updated in order to ensure complete and total compliance in regards to transparency.
Reviews and updates to your chargemaster to ensure correct pricing, billing, and transparency is important to every healthcare organization but also keeps your organization running smoothly and accurately over time. If you are unsure about what exactly needs to be done to make sure that your organization is compliant, be sure to consult a professional who can help you get started.