Wiki What should I charge for a chart audit project?

[mattstella101]

Hello

I'm taking on a consulting project with a hospital for extra money. They want me to audit the charts of a couple of their physicians who have a geriatric practice.

They basically need me to see how the doctors have been coding and to provide some guidance on how they can code in the future. I've been told that they have under and over coded in the past so that's their main issue, along with proper documentation.

I've been professionally coding for 3+ years. I've coded for many different specialties and I'm currently a manager of the HIM department at a Nursing Home.

The main issue here is how should I quote them? This is my first time doing a consulting job as extra work. I don't want to over charge but at the same time I don't want to sell myself short here.

Can anyone tell me about their past experience with this and how they have handled this aspect of this.

I appreciate any feedback, thanks!

 

[hewitt]

When I asked these questions a year ago, no one responded. Since then, I've had to do quite a bit of research to come up with a way to handle what/how to quote a price for consulting. There are a couple ways of coming up with a quote. Please forgive me if this seems complicated. 1) You know that hospitals are paid via DRGs. If there is a way to determine what their "bread and butter" procedures/DRGs are for the specialty wanting you to do the work, you may be able to "back into" a fee. 2) I've also asked friends who are self employed as hospital coders. They tell me that, in general, it's better to charge a per chart fee. For my area, about 7-12 dollars depending upon the specialty. Hope this gets you started! Godspeed!