1. Coding Services and Technology
Baptist Health System
Increasing coding quality and productivity with PrecyseCode™

2. CODING SERVICES AND TECHNOLOGY
Baptist Health System
THE CHALLENGE
The Baptist Health System (BHS), which includes four
hospitals in the greater Birmingham, Alabama area,
experienced difficulties recruiting and retaining certified
coding professionals. Most coding professionals prefer to
work remotely, which is only possible if the hospital’s files are
online and secure. At the time, BHS had not yet transitioned
to electronic medical records, causing challenges competing
for coders against other EMR-enabled hospitals.
Additionally, BHS experienced coding efficiency challenges.
In the past, BHS had hired four separate teams of coders
to handle their respective hospital’s needs, with each team
reporting to the facility HIM Manager. The workload volumes
for each hospital fluctuated considerably, and these variations
led to backlogs and overtime during busy periods, while
leaving staff underutilized during slower times.
Leadership strived to optimize the proficiency of their coders,
capture revenue which may have been missed due to human
error, retain a coding audit trail and meet ever-changing
compliance rules and regulations.
BHS challenged Precyse to improve the coding team to be
more efficient and productive, streamlining resources without
compromising quality or accuracy.
BHS and Precyse initiated their relationship in 2004 with
a transcription outsourcing partnership. Over the next
few years, Precyse supported BHS with coding, auditing,
education, transcription and interim management services.
As this relationship prospered, Precyse continued to advise
BHS on methods to improve efficiencies and reduce costs.
In 2005 Precyse partnered with M*Modal and integrate its
advanced “speech understanding” technology into the Precyse
dictation and transcription workflow platform. The M*Modal
technology enabled Precyse to deliver both extremely accurate
and complete documents from speech, as well as coded
and indexed discrete data. Precyse now had the foundation
technology to help improve efficiency, quality and patient
safety for both their transcription and coding services for BHS.
In 2009, Precyse expanded its role with BHS, conducting
an on-site assessment of the health system’s HIM operations,
as BHS transitioned from a paper-based environment to an
electronic health record system. Precyse provided solutions
that would improve BHS’s workflow and processes, with the
goal of improving the efficiencies of the coding department.
Precyse also offered its innovative coding platform,
precyseCode™, to make the entire process easier
to implement and manage.
Based on Precyse’s analysis and recommendations, BHS
decided to create a system-centric – rather than facility-
centric – team. By centralizing, the new system-wide coding
team, lead by the Corporate Director of HIM, the sharing of
resources and managing the entire healthcare system’s
needs became possible.
After implementing PrecyseCode, BHS saw immediate
improvements. One major change was the ability to move
the coding team offsite, allowing them to work from home.
This strategic initiative was a new approach for BHS, so
their management coupled the change to very clear
expectations for productivity and quality. From the beginning,
BHS leadership gave the coders stringent guidelines about
goals and expectations, articulating clear accountability for
workloads and deadlines.
BHS opted to implement precyseCode to improve efficiencies,
enable a remote workforce, and manage all cases in the queue.
The Precyse solution revolutionized the coding workflow at BHS,
allowing BHS to “virtualize” the coding department, creating
an integrated, seamless and productive team. Using Precyse
technology, management is able to virtually oversee the staff,
workload, and processes more effectively than ever before.
Having the coders telecommute was an innovative approach
for BHS and improved employee morale significantly. With
precyseCode, BHS implemented a system where managers
can quickly and easily see what each employee is doing;
tracking their time online, viewing the files they have been
coding and more. Having the ability to virtually oversee the
staff has been a huge benefit from a management perspective.
Managers can tell at a glance what has been coded, and can
track and oversee progress much more easily.
The RESULTS
Working with Precyse’s expert resources and advanced
technologies has helped BHS increase productivity, accuracy
and quality, while significantly reducing costs. Since
implementing this new system, BHS has experienced:
• 20% increase in coding quality
• 5% increase in DRG based revenue through more accurate
coding and improved Case Mix Index (CMI)
• 10% reduction in voluntary auditing
• Coder productivity improvement
• Reduction in audit costs
• Revenue increase due to better information and more
accurate coding
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3. CODING SERVICES AND TECHNOLOGY
Baptist Health System
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After implementing Precyse’s recommendations and
technologies, BHS has experienced impressive results including:
• Achieved consistent outcomes that are at (or above)
industry standards.
• Eliminated travel expenses for outside vendors and reduced
overall coding costs.
• Implemented technology that allows coders to work remotely.
• Streamlined information sharing within the team and across
hospital departments through a new electronic model.
From a recruiting perspective, the “work-from-home” option
is an enticing benefit that helps attract and retain quality
coders. Telecommuting has improved morale, teamwork
and loyalty.
“One of the most surprising results is how much the teamwork
has improved since the coders moved off-site. In the past,
when coders had an issue or a problem, they’d go directly to
their manager for advice and solutions,” said Chloe Phillips,
Corporate Director of HIM, Baptist Health System. “Now,
we’ve set up a wonderful information-sharing structure,
allowing the coders to exchange ideas and best practices,
which have significantly improved the team’s dynamics.”
“Now, the coders are more engaged and communicative.
They solve their problems together and work as a cohesive
team,” Phillips added. “And we can oversee their efforts
remotely, so employees don’t feel like we’re looking over
their shoulders or micromanaging them.”
BHS had been frustrated by a coding department that
wasn’t working as efficiently or effectively as it should.
By working with Precyse’s team of experts and implementing
their suggested structural and process changes, and
coding technologies, BHS is set for an impressive future.
By centralizing its coding department to handle coding
needs for all four hospitals – as opposed to having separate
teams of coders for each hospital – BHS is now able to better
manage an ever-fluctuating workload. Additionally, Quality,
Risk, Case Management and other departments can access
records quickly and efficiently, without requesting a record
pull from the HIM department.
Moving the coders off-site benefits the organization, which
reduced some of their overcrowding issues on campus, as
well as the coders, who view working from home as a
substantial benefit. Offering this telecommuting bonus is an
important tool in attracting and retaining qualified coding
staff. Previously, BHS faced ongoing recruitment challenges,
as other hospitals
and health systems were offering “virtual” models and off-site
work opportunities, which were more appealing to top-quality
job seekers.
BHS leadership was excited about Precyse’s recommended
changes, but they were initially concerned whether productivity
and quality would suffer with an off-site coding staff. Instead,
they were pleased to see productivity, accuracy and quality
all improve significantly with the new system. Precyse’s
technologies simplified the process and streamlined
the workload.
As a surprising benefit, the coding team became even more
cohesive when they moved off-site. BHS, working with
Precyse, set up networking opportunities for the team to
collaborate, sharing ideas, information and best practices.
The coding team became much more self-reliant, using
feedback from information-sharing sessions to resolve
issues, rather than asking their managers for help, as they
had previously.
“Using Precyse’s solutions, we’ve seen a significant
improvement in our coding department’s quality,
productivity and accuracy. They are, truly, a partner
for life.”
Chloe Phillips, Corporate Director of HIM, Baptist Health System

4. “We’re just thrilled with Precyse. Their team truly understood
our needs and carefully considered the best solutions for
our challenges,” Phillips explained. “Their recommendations
were smart and strategic, and it was helpful to hear their
expert opinions on how we could solve our various
coding challenges.”
“Not only were we pleased with Precyse’s team of experts,
but we’ve also found their technologies to be instrumental
to our coding department. Using PrecyseCode, we’ve seen a
significant improvement in our coding department’s quality,
productivity and accuracy,” Phillips continued. “They are,
truly, a partner for life.”
Precyse
Precyse delivers a full range of proven, field-tested coding
services, including long-term contracts, audits and consulting.
Precyse works collaboratively with clients to reduce backlogs,
improve cash flow, streamline coding operations and reduce
noncompliance risk.
For facilities requiring an outsourced coding solution, Precyse
delivers high-quality, proven and credentialed medical coders,
who consistently produce high-quality, accurate documents
and stay up-to-date with the latest coding regulations. The
company’s Coding Help Desk provides 24/7 expert responses
to technical coding inquiries.
Precyse’s customer users and credentialed coding staff are
backed by proprietary ASP software, precyseCode which
streamlines the coding process by transferring relevant
portions of charts to virtual coders who can review these
electronic charts and assign the correct codes to achieve
appropriate reimbursement. With sophisticated chart tracking
tools and built-in quality assurance processes, precyseCode
facilitates specialized coding for emergency, surgical,
outpatient, and EM, and inpatient encounters. In addition
to offering a coding application, precyseCode offers online
management tools and workflow automation features for
coding such as automated workload distribution to coders
and coding QA staff as well as auto flagging and routing of
pre-bill cases for QA review.
Customers depend on Precyse to:
• Attract, recruit and retain quality medical coders
• Improve productivity, quality and accuracy of coding projects
• Streamline coding operations and improve efficiencies
• Enhance HIM operations, meet regulatory requirements
and ensure compliance
• Accelerate cash flow and reduce costs
• Remain up-to-date on ever-changing coding regulations
• Anticipate potential risks
• Provide coding training and education
• Perform internal or regulatory audits
• Uncover performance improvement opportunities
To learn more about precyseCode,
visit www.precyse.com/precyseCode.
CODING SERVICES AND TECHNOLOGY
Baptist Health System