The Charge Description Master (CDM) connects the services your organization provides to the codes, units, descriptions, charges, and reimbursement rules that ultimately drive the claim. When something is inaccurate or outdated, the effects can surface downstream as missed revenue, billing errors, denials, inaccurate reimbursement, or compliance concerns.

And keeping the CDM accurate is an ongoing challenge. Coding and regulatory updates, payer requirements, new services, EHR changes, and unclear ownership can all introduce vulnerabilities that may be difficult to identify until a problem occurs.

In this practical introductory webcast, Lavonne L. Gregory, JD, and David F. Newmiller, COC, will break down the fundamentals of effective CDM management and show how individual CDM decisions connect to the larger revenue cycle.

You’ll learn how to evaluate a service before building a charge, research and assign essential CDM fields, and better understand the relationship among revenue codes, CPT®/HCPCS codes, units, descriptions, pricing, reimbursement, and payer requirements.

You’ll also explore the operational side of CDM management—including ownership, change control, new-service implementation, regulatory updates, auditing, and monitoring—so you can approach CDM decisions and changes more consistently.

Why This is Relevant:

The CDM requires continuous attention. Regulatory updates, reimbursement changes, new services, and evolving payer requirements can quickly make existing information outdated.

Without strong processes, errors may remain hidden until they appear downstream as a denied claim, missed revenue, compliance concern, or audit finding.

Learning Objectives:

After attending this webcast, you'll be better prepared to:

• Understand the anatomy of the CDM and how its key components work together throughout the billing process.
• Build and maintain CDM items more effectively, including codes, units, descriptions, pricing, payer requirements, and EHR considerations.
• Connect CDM decisions to reimbursement and understand how payment methodologies can affect CDM management.
• Recognize potential vulnerabilities earlier that can contribute to missed revenue, billing errors, denials, or compliance exposure.
• Improve ownership, governance, and change control when implementing updates and new services.
• Use auditing, monitoring, and reliable research resources to help keep the CDM accurate and current.

Who Should Attend:

Revenue Integrity and Chargemaster/CDM professionals; Revenue Cycle leaders and staff; HIM and Coding professionals; Compliance and Audit staff; Patient Financial Services and Hospital Billing professionals; Reimbursement, Finance, Pricing, Managed Care and Contracting staff; Charge Capture professionals; Pharmacy and Supply Chain staff; clinical department leaders and revenue stewards; and IT/EHR application professionals involved in hospital charging, billing, coding, reimbursement, or CDM maintenance.

Experience Level: Basic/Introductory — particularly appropriate for professionals who are new to Revenue Integrity, Chargemaster/CDM management, or departmental charge-management responsibilities, while also providing a useful foundational refresher for experienced staff.