Trigg County Hospital’s Board of Director moved Thursday night to unanimously approve the outsourcing of its medical coding — creating a deeper business relationship with Trubridge, a streamlined healthcare billing and collections agency with more than 45 years of experience.
CEO John Sumner said they had already been assisting with emergency room coding in Trigg County, and Chief Financial Officer Don Michael noted that correct coding means the difference not only in the proper assessment of services rendered, but also makes the record keeping that much more accurate and effective for practitioners and patients alike.
Some codes, Michael added, are more unique and detailed than others.
Right now, Trigg County Hospital has two coders and help from an outside agency, with the total cost amounting to nearly $150,000 a year. Michael said they are “contemplating” going to one coder, following the coming retirement of four-decade veteran and Director of Medical Records Becky Groves Waldrup, who in 2021 celebrated 40 years with the organization.
In other hospital news:
+ Sumner said he and Michael will be opening up the hospital’s cost reports from the previous five years, and for a key, and critical, reason.
Because of this, Michael said a reimbursement from Medicare could total north of $270,000.
Sumner also noted that cost reports can be reviewed up to the year 2030, meaning more reimbursement and reparation could be on the way.
+ One of the previously ordered ambulances, Sumner said, will arrive in May — a remount that will be keeping the fleet well above working order. Furthermore, he also mentioned that he will be watching the progress of House Bill 152 with great interest during this 2025 short session of the Kentucky General Assembly.
If passed, it will create a new section of KRS Chapter 205 that requires the Department for Medicaid Services to submit a Medicaid preprint establishing a supplemental payment program for public ground ambulance providers.
+ Sumner alerted the board that, after an assessment with HR Director Amy Edmonson, the hiring of a new physician for Trigg County Primary Care might require up to a $200,000 promise in pay and incentives, in order to remain competitive in western Kentucky’s medical climate.
+ Sumner said the hospital continues to struggle for permission from the Office of Inspector General and other building inspectors to go forward with the installation of a new MRI machine.
+ Sumner also noted that he is going to seek a survey of the Trigg County Hospital campus, in order to get property lines prepared for the continued grant writing needed on a proposed new ambulance shack.
+ And an issue not corrected yet, according to Sumner, is the plumbing concerns near the kitchen and dining room. With the hospital built prior to 1960, Sumner noted that the dishwasher and other machines are to the left of the building, and that replacing piping means coming all across the concrete floor.
It also means a mobile kitchen would be required at a cost of a minimum $14,500 every 30 days, a price that wouldn’t include other associated costs with its possible arrival. Sumner said he will continue communications with the board until further notice.
