Volume 4, #1

April 2007

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Marketing News

You may have noticed our new logo and the new look to LYNX Lines. More importantly, we hope you’ve noticed we’ve also adopted a new message: “Driving Value in Emergency Medicine.” All of this is a reflection of a greater emphasis on marketing as we head into a period of significant growth for LYNX.

Of course, there’s more to marketing than a new tag line. Throughout the year, we will engage in a number of activities to promote our industry-leading position in the Emergency Department. Ultimately though, it’s what that positioning represents and what we, as an organization, are doing and will continue to do to support that mission.

First, we want to clearly define the ED as our market space. For over 20 years, LYNX has been transforming the business of hospital EDs through outsourced coding services, software content applications, and data management tools that capture, document and objectively code patient care data. Today, the ED has become a critical factor in the hospital equation as the demand for emergency care increases at unprecedented levels. For many people, the ED is the first access point-of-care—so much so that 14.5% of all ED visits result in a hospital admission, representing over 50% of all inpatient revenue. But, for many hospitals, the ED has been an area where balancing revenue and costs while providing consistent, compliant and safe patient experiences has been challenging. This is a domain where we have proven our expertise and to which we have made many significant contributions.

Second, it is important to understand the value LYNX brings to the ED. Our current customers have realized outstanding returns on their investment in our products and services. In fact, many have created not only healthy, but also profitable EDs. More accurate and efficient presenting problem-based ED documentation has led to more appropriate facility and professional coding, resulting in more appropriate revenue and considerable cost savings. And by using our tools, our customers have built compliant, comprehensive databases that include complete documentation, code assignment and critical data elements for each ED encounter.

Beyond LYNX’s tools and services is the valuable expertise offered by our domain experts—several of whom regularly contribute to this publication. They not only keep all of us informed of regulatory and coding changes, and industry issues, but they also consult with our customers, represent LYNX at industry organizations and support our product development efforts.

Finally, we are aligning our organization to become more market-focused. This will ensure we continue to drive value by both delivering on the promise of our current products and services, and by developing new products. With that goal in mind, we have reorganized our Marketing Department along product lines.

LYNX product managers are responsible for the entire lifecycle of both software and outsourced coding product offerings. An integral part of this responsibility is to assess your feedback as we move forward developing future product enhancements and functionality. LYNX product managers are Jennifer Lane (E/Map, E/Point and C/Point) and Eric McChesney (E/Code, coding services). We believe this focus will keep us market-driven to ensure our ability to set the pace in ED documentation, coding and revenue cycle management services. Both Jennifer and Eric are working on plans for exciting new products slated for introduction over the next 12-18 months.

We encourage you to contact Jennifer and Eric to offer suggestions about new features and functions you would like to see added to the products you use. We would also like to hear from you about your experiences using LYNX products and services and their impact on your department or hospital. Send us an email at: ProductManagers@lynxmed.com.

In addition, we have expanded the role of our account executives (AE) to further meet customer needs. LYNX AEs will continue to manage on-going client relations, coordinate on-demand coding services during staffing shortages or volume spikes and help upgrade your E/Map discharge instructions with a newly available offering. AEs can also provide additional training for you and your staff. Account executives, Kathe Newell and Mark Epperson, are available toll-free at 800.757.5969 or via ClientCare@lynxmed.com.

What’s New

We continue to hear from clients that outpatient clinics struggle with many of the same issues as EDs when it comes to facility charge capture. Clinic facility charge capture is typically a highly subjective, manually performed, paper-based process. Methodologies are created internally, often with little or no validation, monitoring for accuracy or association with resource use.

LYNX is pleased to announce the release of C/Point, an online solution to clinic facility charge capture. Similar to LYNX’s E/Point ED charge capture application, C/Point employs a presenting problem, resource-based methodology to capture work performed during the encounter. C/Point objectively and accurately assigna clinic facility charges.

C/Point utilizes LYNX proprietary outpatient clinic facility charging algorithm to ensure the facility visit level reflects resource use. This automated process streamlines the charging process and allows for extensive reporting and audit capabilities. For more information on C/Point, contact Jennifer Lane at 800.767.5969 or email ProductManagers@lynxmed.com.

E/Code Service Pack 8 Release

E/Code is the most comprehensive ED outpatient coding and auditing tool available. It appropriately aligns coding distribution with acuity, based on available documentation. The result is accurate, consistent and defensible code assignment.

The 2007 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) Final Rule, effective January 1, 2007, alters how some Emergency Department services are reported. A summary of the 2007 OPPS Final Rule is available on the LYNX Web site at:

http://www.lynxmed.com/news/lynx-lines/2007/2007-10_OPPS_Highlights.html

The Final Rule contained changes which impacted E/Code, our ED CPT & ICD-9 code assignment and documentation tool. E/Code Service Pack 8 incorporated these changes, which include:

• OPPS Functionality.
  1. E/Code now accommodate the OPPS 2007 inclusion of Type A and Type B Emergency Department services. E/Code easily allows the correct user-calculated visit level CPTs to be output based on ED type.
  2. E/Code allows reporting of subsequent Critical Care CPTs by calculating and reporting time increments on the Facility side.
• ICD9 End Dates. E/Code allows simple reporting of ICD9 codes based on appropriate dates. Users can now configure the updates and database prior to the implementation date.
• Inclusion of the LYNX Clinic Facility Charging Algorithm. This allows seamless toggling between ED and Office coding for Facility Services in E/Code.

Coding Review Services: Objective, Outsourced Coding Quality Management

LYNX Coding Review Services (CRS) addresses coding and charge assignment to evaluate compliance risk. CRS helps ensure coding staff are current on documentation and coding guidelines, and are adhering to performance standards. CRS also identifies documentation and coding/charge assignment processes that negatively impact financial performance. LYNX completes the analysis with an education package to help ensure appropriate revenue while maximizing compliance. Users of E/Code, E/Point and C/Point qualify for LYNX CRS. To learn how your organization can benefit from LYNX CRS, contact your account executive.

Education Services

The LYNX Quality Management (QM) Department provides a variety of educational offerings to minimize compliance risk while ensuring appropriate revenue. Course content is customized to meet your specific needs and follows CMS, CPT and AMA guidelines. LYNX QM prepares course materials for and conducts comprehensive trainings for:

• Coders: Instruction on CPT and ICD-9 code assignment; ED, urgent care, observation and ICD-9 ongoing coder education
• Physicians: CMS documentation guidelines; assignment of E&M and procedure codes; how to document visits to support correct code assignment.
• ED Clinical Staff: Facility documentation guidelines; nursing procedure review to ensure support of appropriate code assignment.

For more information on LYNX Education Services, contact your account executive.

For more information on E/Code updates, contact Eric McChesney at ProductManagers@lynxmed.com or call 800.767.5969. For information on how coding services can help your organization, contact your account executive at ClientCare@lynxmed.com or call 800.767.5969.