The chargemaster is a lynchpin within the overall revenue cycle. Keeping the chargemaster up-to-date both for reimbursement as well as maintaining proper compliance is necessary. The chargemaster is a direct and indirect target of compliance for both governmental programs and private third-party payers.Chargemasters are complex and can be organized in different ways.Added to this overall mix is the continuing controversy over hospital pricing.A carefully crafted systematic process is necessary to audit a chargemaster to make certain that various concerns are met.The chargemaster must also be organized in a way that hospitals remain financially viable.
Duane C. Abbey, Ph.D., is a management consultant and president of Abbey & Abbey, Consultants, Inc. that specializes in health care consulting and related areas. His firm is based in Ames, Iowa. Dr. Abbey earned his graduate degrees at the University of Notre Dame and IowaStateUniversity specializing in mathematics and computer science. Dr. Abbey has published many articles in a variety of professional publications. Also, he has published more than a dozen books on healthcare topics for publishers such as McGraw-Hill, HCPro and Francis & Taylor. Dr. Abbey works extensively in all areas relating to coding, billing and reimbursement. This includes various payment systems, provider-based clinics, HIPAA privacy and security, and revenue enhancement for hospitals and clinics. He has worked extensively with physicians and hospitals. And, yes, his favorite reading material is the Federal Register!
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