Reader Question: Reporting Data

Question: What data should we capture to give our ED groups and hospitals specific feedback? For example, should we track every single drug given, whether orally or by injection?

Florida Subscriber

Answer: At the minimum, you should try to capture and report all services that are separately reimbursable. Under Medicare ambulatory payment classifications (APCs), there are many emergency department (ED) services that can be reported in addition to the ED visit, such as IV infusion therapy, diagnostic testing, fracture treatment, suture, foreign body removal, etc.

Although the supply of most drugs is included in other services, high-cost drugs are separately payable under APCs. For services and supplies that are not separately paid by any third-party payer, the question of whether a facility separately tracks these or bundles the cost into other charges is an individual choice.

The source for the previous two Reader Questions is Laura Siniscalchi, RRA, CCA, CCS-P, CPC, education coordinator for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.


- Published on 2000-11-01