Rural Colorado Hospital Reduced DNFB (Discharged, Not Final Billed) by 24% in One Month

And built a stronger, high-performing coding team in the process.

Overview 

If a total knee replacement should be billed at $80,000, why was the hospital only paid $20,000?  

This was one of the first red flags an office manager saw when she stepped into her new role at a 15-bed critical access hospital in rural Colorado. The hospital serves as the region’s primary healthcare provider, offering a family practice clinic, specialty clinic, surgical care, laboratory services, radiology, pharmacy, therapy, and 24/7 emergency room support.  

Challenge 

The office manager realized the hospital was losing revenue from uncaptured surgical charges, a rising DNFB balance, and incorrect claims processing. Thousands of dollars were slipping through the cracks every month, and solving this challenge wouldn’t be easy with a small team and limited resources.   

The Colorado-based rural hospital had previously utilized medical coding outsourcing, but finding the right partner wasn’t easy. Many companies focus on serving larger hospitals and health systems, leaving smaller facilities struggling to find support that fits their needs. 

 Solution 

The Colorado-based rural hospital didn’t need an outsourcing vendor; they needed a partner to work alongside their team, provide training, and rebuild internal processes. Still, they weren’t sure if CorroHealth would take on a small facility.  

CorroHealth is passionate about helping hospitals of all sizes get reimbursed for the care provided. While the company typically works with larger health systems, it believes every hospital, regardless of size, should have access to the same high level of revenue cycle expertise and support to stay financially strong and continue serving its community. 

The rural hospital partnered with CorroHealth for inpatient, outpatient, and professional coding support, and the impact was immediate. Accuracy improved, coders became more engaged, and errors were caught before submitting claims. 

CorroHealth is a strategic partner who both supports and collaborates closely with hospital teams. The company offers advanced technology and practical solutions, along with training and education to help improve financial health.  

Through this strategic partnership, communication between the coders and clinical teams has improved, leading to more accurate documentation and faster signoffs. Additionally, coders have gained a deeper understanding of common denial reasons and how to prevent them.  

Once CorroHealth came in, coders began to take a more thoughtful and analytical approach to their work. They started to question existing processes, consider alternative methods, and engage in discussions to determine the most effective solutions, rather than simply accepting things as they were. This encouraged a culture of continuous improvement and cross-collaboration. 

Partnership Expansion 

A few months into the partnership, the Colorado-based rural hospital saw a bigger picture: Coding support helped, but deeper, systemic revenue cycle issues remained. They asked CorroHealth to conduct a full audit, which showed hidden opportunities in coding denials, coding follow-up, and CDI. 

CorroHealth conducted a thorough review of processes, uncovering not only missed charges but also workflow inefficiencies that delayed payments and increased denials. These findings demonstrated the value of expanding the company’s role to better support the hospital’s operations.  

The rural hospital’s immediate priority was billing support. CorroHealth responded with a dedicated full-time Athena EHR billing specialist who appealed denials, reduced backlog, and sped up payments. 

Impact 

Within a few short months of partnering with CorroHealth, the Colorado-based rural hospital saw improvements in clean claim rates, reduced DFNB balance, faster reimbursements, and increased surgical billings. And this is only the beginning.  

Increase in surgical billings 

• Before CorroHealth: Total knee replacement surgeries were billed at $15K–$20K with coding gaps. 
• With CorroHealth: Correct coding now ensures accurate billing at $60K–$80K per case. 
• Potential revenue recovery of 3-4x per case. 

Reduction in DNFB balance

• Before CorroHealth: $1.7M+ 
• With CorroHealth: $1.3M within a month 
• Goal: Reduce DNFB to $500K or even $250K 

For the rural hospital, the biggest impact isn’t only seen in the numbers; it’s in the confidence and efficiency of their team, who are experiencing stronger denials prevention, and their coders are more confident and engaged in their work.  

With improvements in processes and oversight, there is now greater peace of mind regarding DNFB status each day. This has led to increased confidence and less stress about what to expect each morning.  

Conclusion 

The Colorado-based rural hospital is now confidently managing its revenue cycle with more efficient coding processes, stronger team collaboration, and a reliable partnership with CorroHealth. With thousands in revenue recovered and a coding team that now takes ownership of the process, the hospital is no longer playing catch-up. See how CorroHealth can help your hospital achieve the same results.