Improving OR case revenue

Increasing revenue can happen in two ways - by reducing costs (to increase case profits) or by optimizing medical billing. Here are 4 key ways supply management can play a key role in maximizing OR revenue:

Cost Control: Effective supply chain management minimizes unnecessary purchases and overstocking, reducing overall supply costs, and ultimately case costs.

Value based care: Value analysis initiatives are a great way to tackle inefficient variation and ensure the best value products are procured. Real-time supply chain data is a valulable tool in bringing down the cost of vendor contracts.

Complete Billing: Ensuring full and accurate supply utilization documentation is a crucial element of medical billing. Making sure every item consumed appears on the bill, including trunk stock, consigned items and last minute orders can be difficult to achieve, but technology is proving effective in achieving 100% supply data accuracy.

System integration: Data collected in the hospital needs to be interoperable. For example, supply utilization data collected at the point of care needs to be shared in the the EHR, ERP and billing systems.

Streamlined Workflow: Efficient supply management frees up staff time wasted searching for supplies, allowing for faster procedures and potentially more surgeries performed.

These four methods of minimizing case costs while optimizing case revenue can generate additional income. Central to achieving optimized case costs is the collection, processing and sharing of supply chain data.

The top 3 sources of revenue directly generated in the Operating Room (OR) are:

Procedure Fees: This is the primary revenue source, representing the charges associated with the surgical procedure itself. The complexity, time, and expertise required for the surgery all influence the fee.

Anesthesia Services: Anesthesia providers bill separately for administering anesthesia during surgery. This cost can vary depending on the type of anesthesia used (general, regional, etc.) and the duration of the surgery.

Supplies Used: The specific supplies utilized during surgery, such as sutures, implants, and medications, are also billed to the patient or their insurance company. Many implants can be high-value items.

Here's a revenue strategy for hospital ORs focusing on supply chain management:

1. Cost Control:

Streamline Inventory: Implement real-time usage tracking and automated reordering to minimize unnecessary purchases and overstocking.
Negotiate Leverage: Gain valuable insights from supply usage data to negotiate better volume discounts with suppliers.

2. Revenue Capture:

Accurate Billing: Integrate supply management systems with billing software to ensure all used supplies are captured for accurate billing.
Reduced Denials: Clear documentation of supplies minimizes the risk of claim denials due to missing information, leading to faster reimbursements.