Quality improvement By Jess Kirby


Can standardized reports improve your reimbursement rates and help optimize workflow?


T


he Society of Interventional Radiology Standardized Reporting Initiative allows IR practices to streamline


reporting, which not only decreases denials and revision rates, but increases accurate charge capture and improves reimbursement rates. The customizable templates lessen the time needed to fill out reports, especially with routine procedures. IR Quarterly spoke with four physicians about their experiences with standardized reports.


How long have you been using standardized reports in your practice?


Suvranu Ganguli, MD, FSIR: Approximately 2 years ago, our medical center hired a whole new group of IRs. Because we had to establish


basic standard operating protocols as we started, it was easy to adopt the standardized reports. We discussed the importance of the SIR quality registry and standardized reports at that time, and we have been using them since.


Mark G. Kleedehn, MD: We started using the reports in 2017, soon after they were made available through SIR. We initially used them


primarily for central-line procedures.


Rajesh P. Shah, MD, FSIR: I have been using standardized reports in our practice for at least 5 years. They have been great. The report quality


is consistent between attendings and it’s much easier to find information.


How have standardized reports impacted your practice? Have your reimbursement rates improved? SG: Since we are a new IR group, the hospital hired a well-known coding and billing company to help optimize our billing and reimbursement. From the physician side, since we were all using these standardized reports, there was very little the company found for us to improve.


Matthew S. Johnson, MD, FSIR: Our radiology billing department says there is no question that IR billing has improved significantly.


RS: We are periodically audited to make sure we are coding correctly. Switching to the reports has made it much easier to code, since we can easily match the CPT codes to specific lines in the standardized reports.


Have you noticed a decrease in report revisions since using standardized reports? SG: When a standardized report is not used, those are the infrequent times that the coders send back a report saying we missed a billable element. There are very few revisions when using the standardized reports, and usually the ones that do get sent back are because someone erased something or did not use a standardized report.


MK: Yes, particularly with regard to using appropriate language for things like ultrasound-guided vessel access.


MJ: The number of such revisions was really small before utilization; now they are nearly non-existent.


Has your workflow improved since using standardized reports? How so? SG: After using the standardized reports for a couple weeks, routine dictations take almost no time, especially if you customize the reports. After doing this, for some routine procedures you may only have to fill in one or two fields before signing the report. These reports are also great for group standardization, allowing everybody in the group to use the same templates.


After using the standardized reports for a couple weeks, routine dictations take almost no time, especially if you customize the reports.


MJ: For simple procedures, standardized reports greatly speed up reporting, as they comprise a series of familiar clicks. Standardized reports are even better for more complicated procedures, as they greatly reduce the quantity of free text, while still providing essential information.


RS: Workflow has definitely improved. The technologists write down all the important information and hand it to us at the end of the case. When we all had our own templates, we weren’t able to standardize that technologist report. Since switching, we’re able to use a single form. We also don’t need to spend time explaining the reports to the residents. They are very self-explanatory, so they’re able to dictate right away.


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