Health Information Management: Advisory | Charge Capture Services
Mason Health is a Public Hospital District and is an independent health system that has positioned itself to be the pride of the area. With more than 100 physicians (active, courtesy, consulting) on staff, in 19 specialties,
Mason Health's mission is United Community, Empowered People, Exceptional Health. It is MasonHealth's vision to provide the best patient-centered care in the Pacific Northwest. Mason General Hospital is a licensed and accredited acute care hospital. It has earned, through extensive specialized training and meeting stringent qualifications, a level four trauma designation. Mason General features a level four trauma designation emergency department that operates 24/7 and it is staffed by board certified emergency services physicians, emergency services trained nurses and staff. Mason Health also has an intensive care unit that extends privacy to the most critical patients and is pleased to have the honor of serving Mason County's patients and community members for more than fifty years.
"JTS’ worked seamlessly with our internal teams to develop and implement a long-term Sustainability Model for our revenue cycle. In addition, they improved DNFB/DNFC and created standard work instructions to ensure ongoing improvements.”"
Senior Director
Revenue Cycle
The Challenge
Mason Health (Mason) collaborated with JTS Health Partners (JTS) to design, build and implement a long-term RCM/HIM Sustainability Model with the following obstacles:
- Some management role(s) were in transition
- Organizational structure support had limited supervisory roles
- Client's electronic health record (EHR) system operated with numerous non-standard and customized workflows
- Charge services productivity required workflow improvements and creation of standard work
- Laboratory workflow required optimization
The Collaborative Approach
Both organizations successfully developed and implemented an overall Sustainability Model for the RCM/HIM department. Process improvement initiatives were instituted which led to workflow efficiency and more appropriate management and staffing allocations. Staffing recommendations were implemented to the RCM/HIM organizational structure to complement the department’s long-term Sustainability Model.
JTS developed and implemented policies, procedures and training to synchronize movement of accounts between coding and revenue cycle teams to increase staff and charge services productivity, eliminate unnecessary transfer of accounts and expedite clean claim submissions.
The Accomplishments
- Accomplished a 45% reduction in Discharged Not Final Coded (DNFC) metric during first 12 months post implementation that complimented Mason’s Clinically Driven Revenue Cycle (CDRC) environment
- Developed a long-term RCM/HIM Sustainability Model that has achieved the
following post implementation:- Aligned the management structure to support long-term growth
- Achieved 1.98 DNFC days; long-term target was <2.0 days