Implementing PDS Revenue Benchmarking Software with Limited Resources

What is PDS?
PDS is a web-based revenue benchmarking tool used by hospitals to optimize revenue. This database of paid claims delivers the market intelligence hospitals need for effective managed care contract negotiation, accurate forecasting of business development opportunities, and data driven strategic planning.

Do any Arkansas hospitals currently use PDS?
Yes. Roughly 1 out of every 4 hospitals in Arkansas is already participating. PDS is also used by over 60 hospitals in California.

How does it work?
Every month, hospitals submit their paid claims information to a centralized database. Users at any participating hospital can log into the PDS website and view their reports.

How much data entry is required each month?
None.

How do hospitals provide the data to PDS?
Each month, your IT or decision support person would run a query that extracts the claims information from your patient accounting system. Once that file has been created, it is uploaded to the PDS website. This can be done in a matter of minutes (see testimonial from Ozark Health) and can even be automated.

How much effort is required to write the data extraction query?

• HealthLand users: PDS worked with HealthLand to develop an extract query and we will provide the query to you to load onto your system. You may need to make minor adjustments to the tool to accommodate any custom configuration of your patient accounting system.
• Meditech users: PDS has already developed a Meditech query which we will provide to you. Your staff will need to spend a few hours to input various parameters to ensure that the query includes/excludes the appropriate patients (e.g., no SNF or Home Health). This input is required only for the initial set up and does not need to be repeated each month.
• CPSI users: Use of the Ad-Hoc module is strongly recommended. Several other hospitals have already developed the queries and have offered to share them with other Arkansas hospitals.

What if I don’t have one of those common patient accounting systems? Do I have to write the query from scratch?
Not necessarily. Writing the query yourself is one option but you can also consider the options below. Please note that there is NO extra charge for either service. It is included with your implementation fee.

• PDS works with your vendor, rather than your IT staff: This is the approach taken by Ozark Health. Your IT staff provides PDS with basic configuration information about your system and then we engage your software vendor to write the query. PDS will need your IT staff to run the query during development against your system so that we can verify that the query was written correctly. Running this query should take no more than 15 minutes.
• PDS writes the query for you: PDS has programmers on staff that can create the queries for you. We just need remote VPN access into your system, and will need to ask your IT staff a few questions from time to time to understand how your system was uniquely configured to support your operations.

What else do I need to do each month? How long does that take?
When the data is received, it is preloaded and validation reports are created. These reports include check totals such as total charges, total payments, payer mix, top 10 DRGs, etc. Someone at your hospital needs to review the validation report each month to confirm that the numbers accurately reflect hospital operations. Participating hospitals have told us that once they identified how they would go about the validation; it rarely takes more than a few hours each month to complete the validation effort.

Are any other resources required during implementation?
You will need to provide us with a one-time download of your insurance master. PDS will map the codes in your master to PDS ‘standardized payer names’ to allow for cross-hospital comparison. We need a resource at the hospital to spend a few hours to review these mappings and notify us of any edits which may be needed.

Testimonial from Ozark Health regarding data submission

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To learn more, contact:

Tina Creel, Vice President
AHA Services, Inc.
tcreel@arkhospitals.org
501-224-7878 ext. 131 office

 

Leslie Gold, Vice President
Professional Data Services
Hospital Association of Southern California
lgold@hasc.org
213.283.8003 office
310.991.5340 mobile