Handheld tools assess medical necessity at the point of care.
An emerging strategy to manage financial risk in clinical practice is to involve the physician at the point of care. Using handheld technology, encounter-specific information along with medical necessity policy can be presented to physicians allowing them to integrate it into their medical decision-making process. Three different strategies are discussed: reference books or paper encounter forms, electronic reference tools, and integrated process tools. The electronic reference tool strategy was evaluated and showed a return on investment exceeding 1200% due to reduced overhead costs associated with rework of claim errors.
Pollard
Dan
D
Marketing, MDeverywhere, Inc., P.O. Box 14669, Research Triangle Park, NC 27705-4669, USA.
D034201:Computers, Handheld; D003658:Decision Making, Computer-Assisted; D020000:Decision Support Systems, Clinical; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D012051:Reimbursement Mechanisms; D012308:Risk Management / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D019564:Unnecessary Procedures / Q000191:economics