Digital Records Enable Smarter Billing Process for CHMB

CHMB Practice Management Services (www.cahealth.com), a leading provider of billing services for physicians in California, is enhancing its information systems capabilities by implementing Laserfiche document management software. CHMB will use Laserfiche to turn hundreds of thousands of hardcopy paper documents into electronic images which will then be available for access for their staff and billing service clients alike. As a result of the initiative, CHMB will be able to process billing information more efficiently and reduce turnaround of claims and reimbursement cycles.

CHMB, based in San Diego County, Calif., provides comprehensive billing and collection services to over 350 physicians.

CHMB has always emphasized leveraging technology, within their internal operations and that of their clients. Beyond a comprehensive offering of resources for revenue cycle management and billing services, they provide a wide array of technical support and computer networking services to their clients. CHMB's Director of Business Development, Ron Anderson, is also co-chair of the Medical Group Management Association's (MGMA) (www.mgma.com) Information Management Society.

"We are always looking at the latest practice management technology, and realized we could better serve our clients and our internal operations by having records available digitally," Anderson said. "Laserfiche and JPI Data Resource (www.jpidataresource.com) are well-proven in medical billing environments, so we began switching over to a paperless process in multiple phases."

CHMB started by scanning EOB's (explanation of benefits), then moved on to "superbills" which contain physician-compiled CPT and ICD-9 codes which are then transcribed into their billing system producing insurance claim forms and ultimately, patient statements. Expected monthly volume of scanned images is approximately 350,000 pages per month. All those pages are now easily searchable and routable with Laserfiche, as employees retrieve, view, print and e-mail the documents for internal purposes and to client offices.

"Employees use the same principles they used with paper documents, only now the process is faster. Printing and mailing costs can also be eliminated," said Jim Bergeron, CEO of Houston-based JPI Data Resource, a Laserfiche value-added reseller (VAR) with experience at several large hospitals and medical billing companies.