In a recent episode of Podnosis, Dr. Jerilyn Morrissey, chief medical officer at CorroHealth, called for a strategic overhaul in how hospitals approach clinical documentation and payer denials.

“Documentation has become the battlefield where clinical, financial and payer priorities collide,” Morrissey said. Tracing the evolution of medical records from ancient Egypt to modern electronic systems, she emphasized that while technology has enabled better data sharing, it has also introduced administrative overload and clinician disengagement.

Morrissey challenged the common belief that denials stem from provider error. “Denials are a payer strategy,” she said. “They distract and delay, and they’re designed to do just that.” She urged healthcare leaders to shift from reactive to proactive strategies, focusing on clear expectations around reimbursement.

Hospitals spend nearly $20 billion annually fighting denials, often by adding more staff or vendors. Morrissey cautioned against this approach, noting that more resources rarely yield better outcomes. She also questioned the effectiveness of AI-generated appeal letters, citing a low success rate and rapidly changing payer policies.

Instead, Morrissey advocated for integrating technology earlier in the care process. “Denials don’t start when we submit a claim,” she said. “They start at the point of documentation and decision-making.”

Looking ahead, Morrissey sees promise in AI for clinical support, pattern recognition and denial prediction. But she warned that trust in technology must be earned. “AI works most of the time, but not all of the time,” she said. “We’re not yet at a point where we can remove the human from the loop.”

Her advice to healthcare executives: embrace innovation with creativity and collaboration, and aim to be “constructively destructive” in reshaping the system.

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