Maria Todd releases Price Bundlr? Software for ASC and Hospital Use

META: Software for Generating Bundled and Transparent Surgical Case Rates

The healthcare industry is constantly seeking innovative solutions to improve the quality of care, reduce costs, and increase transparency. In the surgical field, it is critical to accurately capture the true cost of procedures for both the facility and the individual surgeon. This requires the inclusion of various factors, such as supplies, allocated overheads, staffing, time in pre-op, post-op, and the operating theater, instrumentation, and consumables costs by surgeon preference, as well as capital equipment technologies, drugs, and the unique time the surgeon takes to complete the procedure.

Price Bundlr? is a cloud-based software application that takes user-supplied, proprietary data and generates a bundled and transparent surgical case rate for each facility and each individual surgeon, by procedure code and by specialty.

The software incorporates various factors to accurately capture the true cost of each procedure and provides transparency to both the facility and the individual surgeon. Price Bundlr? allows for the addition of margins and discounts unique to each contract and can accept updates if supply chain costs fluctuate or new consumables, instruments, capital equipment, or drugs are added or changed over time.

The software has been a pet project of Maria's since her PHD thesis where she carried out original research using 25+ years of experience in managed care contracting and healthcare revenue cycle and surgical nursing to explain the importance of activity-based and other managerial cost accounting in the context of setting healthcare prices or evaluating and negotiating contract offers.

The software comprises of the following key features:

User Input: The software allows users to input various proprietary data, including supplies, allocated overheads, staffing, time in pre-op, post-op, and the operating theater, instrumentation and consumables costs by surgeon preference, as well as capital equipment technologies, drugs, and the unique time the surgeon takes to complete the procedure.

The software will return a unique bundled case rate based on the facility in question, even if the surgeon maintains privileges at several different hospitals or ASCs where the same surgeon performs the identical procedure using identical instruments, supplies, technologies, and averaging the same skin-to-skin time in the operating theater.

Data Analysis: The software analyzes the user-supplied data to accurately capture the true cost of each procedure, considering all relevant factors. The facility must know its staffing, overhead, supply, instrument and other costs to enter the user-supplied data into Price Bundlr?. The data can come from payroll reports, expenses, purchasing, and central supply data files.

If one doesn't have the accurate current data, the software will allow a best guess, but it won't be as precise or accurate.

Bundled Case Rate Generation: The software generates a bundled case rate for each procedure, incorporating all the relevant factors and providing transparency to both the facility and the individual surgeon.

Facilities may design the bundles to include or exclude implants, hardware, medications, anesthesia services, surgeon fees, extra services such as a pre-operative consultation with the surgeon and one or more post-operative visits and services. It allows for customization based on each facility and each individual surgeon's unique needs and preferences. A simple recalculation can be performed in the case of a one-off case that is anticipated to be different from the average for any reason.

Margin Variances: The software allows for the addition of variable negotiated margins to each bundled case rate, ensuring profitability for the facility and fair compensation for the individual surgeon. Maria has long recommended that facilities first calculate their costs to provide a service and then use that information to analyze contract and payer offers rather than use reference-based pricing around a Medicare benchmark.

Benefits to Providers:

The present invention provides numerous benefits to the healthcare industry, including:

• Transparency: The software provides transparency to both the facility and the individual surgeon, ensuring fair compensation and profitability.
• Accuracy: The software accurately captures the true cost of each procedure, taking into account all relevant factors.
• Customization: The software allows for customization based on each facility and each individual surgeon's unique needs and preferences.
• Profitability: The software allows for the addition of margins to each bundled case rate, ensuring profitability for the facility.

Maintaining Relevance: The software can accept updates if supply chain costs fluctuate or new consumables, instruments, capital equipment, or drugs are added or changed over time, or surgeon technique changes ensuring continued accuracy and relevance of the bundled case rates.

Patent Application Pending

Maria Todd's new software will be submitted for PPA to the USPTO as a new invention for generating bundled and transparent surgical case rates, providing numerous benefits to the healthcare industry. The invention is novel, non-obvious, and useful, and is anticipated to meet the requirements for a patent application.

For more information or to access the software as an early-adopter, contact Maria Todd via private message or by phone at 800-727-4160.