Charge capture

Charge capture is the step between care and the claim. A clinician sees the patient, documents the visit and selects or dictates the services; charge capture is making sure each of those services, with the right units and modifiers, becomes a charge in the billing system. It happens on a superbill, in an EHR encounter, on a trip log for a transportation company or on a visit record for a home care agency, and it has to happen for every encounter, not most of them.

Two numbers show whether it is working. Charge lag is the gap between the date of service and the date the charge is entered; a long lag delays everything downstream and pushes claims toward filing limits. The second is the count of encounters on the schedule with no charge against them, which is the direct measure of revenue that was earned and never billed. Both belong on the monthly report next to days in A/R.

The mistake is assuming the schedule and the charges match without checking. Encounters left open, visits added after the schedule was printed, procedures done in a room the pick list does not cover and supplies nobody is responsible for coding all vanish quietly. Reconcile the schedule against posted charges every day, and chase every open encounter by name.