Leading HIM technology and services providers join forces to improve HIM departments’ performance under new MS-DRG regulations
EDEN PRAIRIE, MN and WAYNE, PA – September XX, 2007 – Ingenix, a leading health information technology company, and Precyse Solutions, a leader in health information management (HIM) services and technologies, today announced a strategic partnership to provide hospitals with a comprehensive solution to manage coding, regulatory compliance and reimbursement and deliver audit and education services to address the Medicare Severity-Adjusted Diagnostic Related Groups (MS-DRGs) regulations going into effect October 1, 2007.
By using Ingenix’s Hospital Impact™, a sophisticated claims data analytical software solution, hospitals will be able to view inpatient MS-DRG Reports that offer a high-level overview of a hospital’s financial impact related to the proposed MS-DRGs. The reports offer a high-level overview of the impact of the proposed MS-DRGS on their financial results. Precyse Solutions uses the Ingenix reports to focus on the coding areas that have the greatest positive and negative impacts on the hospital, leading to enhanced auditing and education focus.
Precyse will then conduct a more detailed audit of the hospital’s diagnosis coding that is identified as weak by Ingenix’s Hospital Impact report. The more detailed audit program will evaluate data quality, coding compliance and documentation. Once the initial readiness audit is completed, Precyse recommends customized training programs, measures improvement and refines areas of education to enhance HIM performance for the hospital.
The implementation of MS-DRGs is one of the most significant reforms by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the inpatient prospective payment system. Overall coder productivity is projected to decline 20-25 percent because it will be necessary to capture more detailed codes in order to identify complications and co-morbidities. Productivity will also be affected by the additional data abstraction required for the Present on Admission (POA) indicator. Without having sufficiently trained coding resources, hospitals may not adequately document delivered services, which may significantly impact its revenues. If a client needs help, Precyse has significant experience and success providing remote coding to HIM departments.
“It is absolutely vital for hospitals to understand the impact of the Medicare Severity DRGs changes and how they affect their operations,” said David Ostler, executive vice president of Ingenix. “Ingenix and Precyse have formed this strategic partnership to help hospitals with the new system and ensure accurate coding and grouping and effective HIM for hospital revenue cycle management.”
“Precyse Solutions is pleased to work with Ingenix to offer our customers key performance metrics and a method to improve those metrics in this rapidly changing regulatory environment,” said Jeff Levitt, CEO and founder of Precyse Solutions. “Our strategic partnership with Ingenix provides us access to advanced technology that will provide us with even greater insight into how to help our customers improve their performance and cash flow.”M
About Ingenix
Ingenix, a wholly-owned subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), transforms organizations and improves health care through information and technology. Organizations rely on its innovative products, services and consulting to improve the delivery and operations of their business. More information about Ingenix can be obtained at http://www.ingenix.com.
About Precyse Solutions
Precyse Solutions is the leader in driving peak performance within HIM departments. The Precyse Performance Benchmark measures key performance indicators of HIM departments against industry standards to determine areas of strength and needed improvement. Precyse’s services support best practices in multiple areas including: remote and on-site coding, transcription, audit and education, cancer registry, consulting and interim/long-term management services. For more information, please visit www.precysesolutions.com. | 
