Introduction
Hospitals lose millions of dollars each year due to incomplete or inaccurate charge capture in the operating room. From missed implants and barcode scanning failures to delays in documentation and item master mismatches, these breakdowns directly erode revenue and compliance. In a healthcare economy defined by shrinking margins and expanding bundled payments, surgical charge capture is no longer just a documentation task—it’s a financial imperative.
A recent Becker’s Healthcare webinar featured Shlomo Matityaho, CEO of IDENTI Medical, and Lisa Miller, Chief Sales Officer and revenue cycle expert, to explore how IDENTI’s Snap&Go AI camera platform is transforming surgical charge capture and driving significant financial gains for hospitals.
AI Closes the Loop on Missed Charges
Manual workflows and barcode-based tools continue to leave gaps in documentation. Ms. Miller highlighted common issues such as missed charges for high-cost implants, miscoded items, reliance on “miscellaneous” billing, and delayed data entry after surgery. These inefficiencies directly impact reimbursement. For example, an orthopedic unit performing 20 surgeries a day could lose over $1.2 million annually from just four missed implant charges per day.
IDENTI’s Snap&Go leverages computer vision and AI to capture item-level details at the point of use. Nurses simply place an item under the Snap&Go camera, which automatically records lot number, expiration date, and manufacturer—no scanning, typing, or dropdowns required. Every item is validated and billed correctly, regardless of whether it is bill-only, consignment, or owned stock. According to Miller, this level of automation ensures 100% documentation of high-value implants without adding any burden to clinical staff. Hospitals gain the transparency needed to negotiate effectively with managed care payers, improve performance in bundled payment models, and truly understand case-level profitability.
Matityaho emphasized the simplicity of the process: the interaction between nurse and device is driven entirely by a green or red light. In three seconds, Snap&Go captures and confirms usage without disrupting workflow and stores the image as proof of use.
Real-Time Safety and Audit Readiness
Snap&Go provides a complete audit trail for every implant, reducing payment disputes and increasing billing accuracy. It flags expired or recalled items before use, updates the item master in real time, and tracks bill-only and consigned stock with precision. Miller noted that nearly 25% of OR staff have encountered issues with expired implants. Snap&Go eliminates that risk by embedding safety checks directly into the documentation process. Adoption is high because the system collects accurate, complete information automatically, eliminating the need to chase data after the case. Snap&Go integrates easily with leading EHR and ERP systems, including Epic, Meditech, Workday, and Infor. Implementation typically takes up to 7 days, including training the staff, with many hospitals seeing measurable financial results after the first 100 cases. Miller shared that some hospitals reported full ROI in just a few weeks. One health system, for example, recovered $1.8 million in revenue in a single service line by improving implant documentation and charge visibility.
With CMS’s new TEAMS bundled payment model set to begin in 2026, hospitals will be required to document implant usage with greater precision to optimize reimbursement. Snap&Go positions health systems to meet this challenge by automating UDI capture and aligning OR documentation with financial and clinical outcomes.
Designed for Nurses, Backed by Data
Snap&Go is designed for ease of use, requiring no learning curve. It captures untagged and unbarcoded items like screws and plates, digitizes handwritten or printed vendor count sheets, and recognizes off-catalog or one-time-use implants. This simplicity ensures high adoption among clinical staff while delivering financial and operational benefits.
Hospitals using Snap&Go report a 75% to 85% increase in charge capture accuracy, a 15% to 30% reduction in charge entry time, and a 20% to 30% drop in carve-out denials. UDI and usage data completeness reach 99%. Miller summed it up: in a healthcare environment where every dollar counts, AI-powered charge capture in the OR is no longer optional—it’s essential.
As hospitals continue to digitize their operations, Snap&Go is setting a new standard for surgical revenue capture. By removing long-standing documentation barriers, it enables hospitals to reclaim lost revenue, improve payer positioning, and strengthen data integrity across the care continuum. Miller concluded that within the next few years, this technology will become the standard for surgical documentation on the business side of healthcare.
