Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later – Cleaning Up for Charger Build
By Nancy Trainham
The Item Catalog DCT is completed with the Charge Description Masters (CDM) provided by your financial department. Your Charger Class is scheduled or you
might have just returned from training. You are excited about getting started, but a little intimidated by the fact that YOU are responsible for the revenue
stream for the non-interfaced departments. You want it to be a clean build, so where do you begin?
First, take the time to review and analyze the information you have received, it has most likely been added to over time and naming conventions may or may not
have been adhered to. Perfecting the data now will lead to a cleaner build and outcome. Look for the same test named differently. A perfect example of the
same test named many different ways is the EKG: EKG 12 Lead; 12 Lead EKG; ECG; ECG 12 Lead; 12 Lead ECG. A comparison should be made within the same department
for the same test used multiple times and across departments. The same item could be listed multiple times in the same department due to “exploding charges” or
the same supply used for multiple procedures. Standardizing test names will make the build and subsequent training easier.
Once the test names are standardized, it is time to look at the sequence of the words. For example: Stent, Biliary vs. Biliary Stent. During the analysis of
the sequence of the words, look at abbreviations, the use of periods, dashes, slashes, and spaces as well. There is no right or wrong, but there are some items
to consider: how will you want items to group and who will be looking for the items, and could it be on an order form with other items.
One more area to contemplate: your departments not using the eMAR or Automated Dispensing Device for charging medications, Trade, Generic or both. It is not
uncommon for procedural areas to build separate items unrelated to the pharmacy charges to capture medication charges.
Now that the initial clean up is complete, it is time to proceed to the Charger Tables. A few words of caution while you are still fresh from pouring over the
items: parenthesis and the ampersand are not allowed in the Charge Items table and the name is limited to 50 characters. Utilize the copy and paste functions as
you build the Charge Items Table, Charge OBXUSer Fields Table, UDDI’s and fill in the ancillary information for items. Trust me; the typos will drive you crazy
when you start testing and chasing down errors.
Time spent cleaning and standardizing will contribute to an easier and cleaner build of the charger. A cleaner build will result in better charge capture and
subsequently increased/accurate revenue generation.
For more Eclipsys implementation information please contact VCS at 610.444.1233 or at vcs@getvitalized.com.