COLDWATER (WTVB) - In the confusing world of health care language, it’s called Clinical Documentation Improvement. At the Community Health Center of Branch County, the Board of Trustees learned last night it could start brining a million dollars more to the bottom line at the hospital beginning next year.
The Board approved a contract with 3-M to start the Improvement program at C-H-C in 2011 at a cost of 325-thousand dollars in the first year. However, the return on that investment is projected to begin in just six months. Hospital C-E-O Randy DeGroot says in layman’s terms it’s basically education and expertise brought to the table for the Health Center’s physicians to make sure that they have the finest resources when the doctors are documenting a patient’s chart so that it accurately reflects the intensity of the care being delivered.
All of that impact’s C-H-C’s reimbursement and quality scores when they report to the national rating services. The hospital attempted to deal with the problem internally but after more than three years of trying to make the improvements in-house, it was decided to outsource the effort.
