Wiki Hospital E/M visit tracking

[mrsalexander]

Looking for creative input on how other offices have their physicians keep track of hospital patients they see each day. What is your methodology?? Your feedback would be greatly appreciated as I am trying to create a new system. Thank you!!!!

 

[jdibble]

Where I worked previously, the surgeons had index size cards that would fit in their pockets. They would affix one of the patient labels to the card (or write their name) and then log the visit/surgery on the card and then turn them in to the office when they came back. This worked great - never missed a patient! When we took on other physician groups we tried to get them to use this system and they refused - resulting in a lot of missed charges. These doctors would turn in face sheets from the hospital for rounding visits, but would forget to include ER visits and some other procedures - especially the orthopedist!

 

[thomas7331]

Having the physicians turn in their charges is probably the most common approach, but I would suggest contacting your hospitals to see if you can get a remote sign-in or access to their medical records system so that you can actually go in and view the documentation and make sure it's captured and coded correctly. I know there are practices that do this.

And if the physicians are entering into the hospital's EHR, you might also be able to set up an arrangement where their notes automatically feed to you electronically or print in your office, which would have the added advantage of making the records available for you in the event you need them at a later date. It's something worth discussing with the hospital's IT department. These days technology does provide a lot of options that are often not taken advantage of.