Expert consulting from 3M helps improve outpatient revenue and prepare for ICD-10

As healthcare organizations expand outpatient services and transition to accountable care organizations (ACOs), outpatient documentation has become more complex and critical to the bottom line. To help outpatient facilities and physician practices improve documentation and coding processes, 3M Health Information Systems has introduced the 3M Outpatient CDI Program. The new clinical documentation improvement (CDI) consulting service offers a proven process for achieving complete, accurate and compliant outpatient documentation to promote accurate reimbursement and a healthy revenue cycle.

3M Outpatient CDI is designed for free-standing physician practices, hospital outpatient services, hospital-based physician services, and multi-specialty physician clinics. Based on more than two decades of 3M documentation consulting expertise, the new service teaches outpatient staff how to improve documentation and workflow processes so that patient conditions are fully captured and documentation reflects the care provided.

"We see a significant return on investment when outpatient providers are educated about documentation specificity required for compliant coding," said Terri McCubbin Graves, RN, director of Consulting Services for 3M Health Information Systems. "Re-work is reduced along with claims denials and revenue recovery activity resulting from RAC audits. Physician practices and clinics can be confident that reimbursement is accurate and compliant while improving their revenue cycle and cash flow."

3M Outpatient CDI builds on the 3M DRG Assurance Program, 3M’s industry-leading inpatient CDI consulting service, which has been used by more than 1,500 U.S. hospitals to help physicians meet changing documentation requirements. The new service complements 3M’s complete program of ICD-10 consulting services and the 3M ICD-10 Education Program, a comprehensive web-based curriculum that prepares physicians, CDI specialists, coders, and other essential facility staff for coding and documentation under the new ICD-10 national coding standard, which will be implemented in October 2014.

Learn more about 3M Outpatient CDI online. Information about 3M’s entire suite of clinical documentation improvement consulting services and software is available at www.3Mhis.com or by calling 800-367-2447.

About 3M Health Information Systems
Best known for its market-leading coding system and ICD-10 expertise, 3M Health Information Systems delivers innovative software and consulting services designed to raise the bar for clinical documentation improvement, computer-assisted coding, performance monitoring, and quality outcomes reporting. 3M’s robust healthcare data dictionary and terminology services support data interoperability and the expansion and accuracy of the electronic health record. With 30 years of healthcare industry experience and the know-how of more than 100 credentialed 3M coding experts, 3M is the go-to choice for more than 5,000 hospitals worldwide that want to improve quality and financial performance. For more information, call 800-3672447, visit www.3Mhis.com, or follow on Twitter @3MHISNews.

DRG Assurance and 3M are trademarks of 3M Company.

3M media contacts:Price Houns AssociatesMollie Houns, 952-920-6951or3M Public RelationsMary Kokkinen, 651-733-8806