Optimizing your revenue cycle takes more than ensuring billing is done in a timely way and claims are monitored and worked regularly—it also requires expert management to confirm you’re getting the most out of your current billing process. Healthcare market factors are constantly evolving. Change is the billing process can make it challenging to keep up and optimize billing to your advantage. Luckily, there are experts who can help when searching for market and industry updates.
As medical finance operations and strategy evolve, reimbursement models are beginning to change, and outsourcing Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) services are becoming more common so that practices of all sizes can stay ahead of the game. According to the presentation “Making Bank: Managing and Monitoring Your Revenue Cycle” given at the MGMA 2018 conference (download link to slide show), “Medical groups are losing 3% to 5% of their net revenue from inadequate RCM processes and procedures.“ It begins at the first call: insurance eligibility verification should be expertly handled to help the entire process run smoothly. If that key information isn’t taken upfront, then the entire billing process could be delayed, and that only hurts the bottom-line performance of the practice. Plus, if insurance and billing process is not done correctly, it requires reworking, which costs more to collect on one payment.
A common step that practices have issues with is during the Coding and Documentation part. If they have insufficient information, lack the coding education, or an insufficient revenue program, then it will often take them longer to correctly process the claims. Another key area is the follow-up. This is especially important if a practice does not have an online payment option, which patients are more likely to utilize for a quick, easy payment. Even then, payments can linger unpaid for too long, and it’s up the practice to send out a reminder for collection. If an efficient process is not in place, then the practice will struggle to keep their finances in-check and optimized for an ideal revenue cycle.
The process and expertise needed to manage the medical revenue cycle can be difficult for those who are not up to the task or unaware of how to stay informed regarding industry changes. To get the most out of your billing process, contact Outsource Receivables Inc. to learn how outsourcing your medical billing to experts may be your best option.