"In the first month alone, we saw an increase of 20 percent in the number of bills we issued," said Dr. Brown. By the end of the pilot, the increase in monthly billing was averaging about 15 percent and the days to accounts receivable (days to AR) went from a respectable 54 days to 37 days. The savings has enabled the department to pay for the entire system out of operating funds.

In addition to a charge capture capability, the Department of Medicine said it required that the handheld system have built-in wireless for future connectivity, that it be easily customized by hospital staff, that it work equally well on both Palm and Pocket PC devices, and most importantly, the system needed to offer both charge capture and a full suite of clinical applications.

According to PatientKeeper, the PatientKeeper Charge Capture Application Suite automates a billing process that typically relies on individual billing cards. Instead of jotting information on the cards, doctors use the PatientKeeper system to simply check off the customizable diagnosis codes and services performed on their handhelds. The PatientKeeper Clinical Application Suite consists of a variety of tools for reading and analyzing all types of patient data such laboratory results, medication lists, allergies, and clinical documentation.