Improve IV Stop Time Compliance and Reclaim Lost Revenue

Each year thousands of dollars are lost due to undocumented infusion
stop times. Infusion start/stop time documentation compliance can be challenging. Even more challenging, can be the correct calculation and
assignment of the CPT codes. According to an Illinois Hospital Association case study, a medical center was losing up to $80,000 a month in charge captures related to IV injection and infusions¹. They then established a goal to improve the process of IV injection and infusion charge entry. The hospital repeatedly educated its nursing staff and implemented monitoring and tracking processes. Through these combined efforts, the hospital improved its lost charges by $60,000 per month. 

Rather than engaging in time-sensitive reeducation and tracking work by administrators and coding personnel, as shown above, the Pulsecheck ED Injections and Infusions module can be utilized to realize similar results. A small critical access hospital in New Mexico showed an increase in IV stop time compliance of 40.1% in its first month after starting the Injection and Infusion module from PulseCheck within their EHR, taking them to a 90.1% compliance rate. This also resulted in increased charge capture of $11,500 due to IV stop time improvement.

In a different PulseCheck facility, injection and infusion nurses improved their documentation compliance of IV stop times from 45% to 93% within the first three months of implementing the  Injection and Infusion solution in their ED EHR. Since the implementation, this department now averages an extra $10,000 per month in recovered lost charges by utilizing the Injection and Infusion calculator in their PulseCheck ED system, equating to over $100,000 annually. 

PulseCheck ED Injection and Infusion Services capture charges for all medication infusions, hydrations, and IV pushes by appropriately assigning CPT codes based on current CMS hierarchy guidelines. The calculator can also be set to require pertinent stop times to be entered prior to discharge from the EHR, ensuring that these procedures can be accurately billed. PulseCheck ED integrated Injection and Infusion Services enables the calculator to populate as the nurse documents the ordered medication as given. The calculator displays the medication administration detail and any missing stop times to the nurse. This allows all missing stop times to be easily recognized and documented prior to disposition without undue burden on the staff.