Craneware Announces Release of Pharmacy ChargeLink™

Application Will Help Hospitals Promote Appropriate Pricing, Accurate Billing, and Optimal Reimbursement for Facility-Dispensed Medications

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Craneware, Inc. today announced the general availability of Pharmacy ChargeLink, a software application that establishes and maintains a connection between a hospital’s pharmaceutical purchase history and its charge description master (CDM). This connection ensures correct, current pricing and accurate coding so that hospitals can optimize reimbursement for facility administered medications.

“Previously, we could only identify pharmacy charges that were underpaid – we could not find those that were missing CPT codes without exhausting our resources or seeking outside help”

In 2006, uncompensated healthcare costs reached an all time high of more than $31.2 billion for registered community hospitals across the United States, accounting for 5.7 percent of total expenses, according to the American Hospital Association. To offset such losses, hospitals must find ways to optimize reimbursement in other areas. Pharmacy ChargeLink helps organizations achieve this in part by maintaining full visibility from the pharmaceutical point of purchase all the way to reimbursement, resulting in better cost management and the ability to recover related revenues.

“Previously, we could only identify pharmacy charges that were underpaid – we could not find those that were missing CPT codes without exhausting our resources or seeking outside help,” said James Williams, CDM Specialist at University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas, and beta user of the software. “Pharmacy ChargeLink provides us with a way to improve and optimize charge capture in the pharmacy department. In fact, within the first few hours of using the application, we identified $86,000 in missed pharmacy-related reimbursement opportunities.”

By connecting a hospital’s pharmaceutical purchase history and CDM, Pharmacy ChargeLink is able to strengthen the integrity of pharmacy billing policies and procedures through increased monitoring of internal pricing guidelines. It can also identify pharmacy items out of alignment with the hospital’s most current pricing strategies.

Pharmacy ChargeLink is linked to the Thomson Red Book^® database, the industry-leading source for information and pricing data on prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications. This provides users with the ability to perform alternative-drug searches, benchmark against average wholesale prices, and generate both spend analyses and statistical summaries.

In addition, a wide range of pre-built filters and customization options allow staff to configure data views and generate text-based, HTML, or Excel reports. Filters for zero-volume reimbursable items and NDC validity, for example, ensure that billing is accurate and appropriate. The system also helps staff review descriptions of method of administration, dosage, and billing units, for setting correct multipliers to achieve full reimbursement.

“Constantly changing formularies, prices, and reimbursement policies make it difficult for hospitals to maintain current and complete information about their pharmacy supply costs. As a result, organizations often miss reimbursement opportunities and lose revenue,” said Jim Wilson, president of Craneware, Inc. “By using Pharmacy ChargeLink, hospitals such as University Medical Center will be able to strengthen their financial performance and maintain control over their pharmacy pricing. The application will also help them support defensible pricing and provide a systematic way to guide their pricing strategies and policies—a must for successful revenue cycle management.”

About Craneware

Craneware is a leading market supplier of revenue cycle management software that empowers healthcare providers to optimize revenue, improve daily operations, encourage compliance and use information more efficiently to impact business decisions. Craneware’s Chargemaster Toolkit^® solution is HFMA Peer Reviewed and ranked No. 1 in the Revenue Cycle - Chargemaster Management category in the “Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards” report, published December 2007. With more than 750 hospital customers throughout the United States, the company is known for excellent revenue cycle management solutions and proactive client support. Visit Craneware at www.craneware.com.