Hospital chargemaster maintenance is the
primary responsibility of the designated team or coordinator
. Maintenance is a continuous process that ensures all services are accurately charged, the hospital is compliant with government regulations for pricing, and the organization receives accurate reimbursement.
What is the purpose of a chargemaster?
About Chargemasters
A hospital charge description master, also known as a chargemaster or CDM, contains the prices of all services, goods, and procedures for which a separate charge exists. It is
used to generate a patient’s bill
.
What is chargemaster management?
Hospital chargemaster management, aka chargemaster maintenance, with Vitalware is a comprehensive solution that
combines technology and expertise
, and brings all data into one view.
What departments are included in chargemaster maintenance?
Maintaining an accurate chargemaster requires a multi-disciplinary team with representation from
finance, patient financial services, health information management, compliance
, and—most importantly—each ancillary department (e.g., lab, radiology, pharmacy), Gilbert said.
What does a chargemaster analyst do?
A charge description master (CDM) or chargemaster analyst
maintains the list of billable services for a hospital
. … The accuracy of medical coding, charge descriptions, and hospital rates, as well as maximizing insurance reimbursements and patient cash-pay, are other responsibilities.
What is a chargemaster and why is it important?
The chargemaster
captures the costs of each procedure, service, supply, prescription drug, and diagnostic test provided at the hospital
, as well as any fees associated with services, such as equipment fees and room charges.
Are all claims affected by the Chargemaster?
The charges are then used to bill or create claims for patients. If there are any coding mistakes in this process, it
can affect everything that relies on the chargemaster
. This includes data the chargemaster retrieves as well as the claims and bills sent to patients and insurance companies.
Who is responsible for updating the Chargemaster?
Hospital administrators
are responsible for updating chargemasters.
How often should the Chargemaster be reviewed?
The charge master should be reviewed at
minimum quarterly when the CMS updates occur
. Each ancillary department should be responsible for conducting a brief monthly review of their department’s CDM. Verify accuracy of CPT/HCPCS and revenue codes. Compare descriptions from CPT codes to the CDM description.
Why is charge capture important?
Charge capture is
critical for success for every healthcare organization that seeks reimbursement for their services from insurance companies
. If the services are captured on the reimbursement form, then the clinician or facility simply won’t get paid for those services, which results in lost revenue.
What is the difference between an encounter form and chargemaster based on place of service?
The encounter form is the financial record source document used by healthcare providers and other personnel to record
treated diagnoses
and services rendered to the patient during the current encounter. It is also called a superbill. A chargemaster is an encounter form generated in the hospital setting.
What are the consequences of not utilizing current codes and charges?
The most common medical billing and coding errors lead to
high denial rates
and may compromise patient care. But the more serious consequences of upcoding and acts of medical abuse and fraud could have your group facing federal penalties and expensive fines.
What are CDM codes?
The Charge Description Master (CDM), sometimes called the Chargemaster or Procedure Code Dictionary, is
the database of all billable items that go on patients’ accounts
. It contains all the descriptions, revenue codes, department associations, alternate CPT/HCPCS codes for different payer….
How do I become a chargemaster?
The qualifications you need to become a chargemaster analyst or charge description master (CDM) analyst are a
bachelor’s degree in business, finance, or accounting
in addition to experience with medical billing and coding.
How much does a chargemaster coordinator make?
| Annual Salary Hourly Wage | Top Earners $99,000 $48 | 75th Percentile $89,500 $43 | Average $72,345 $35 | 25th Percentile $46,500 $22 |
|---|
What is charge capture?
Charge capture is a process used by doctors and other health care providers to get paid for their services. In its simplest form, charge capture is the
process whereby doctors record information on their services
, which is then sent out to different payers and insurance companies for reimbursement.
