With proper care and management, your hospital’s revenue cycle can be one of your business’s most essential and lucrative areas. Hospital revenue cycle management is not always easy, particularly when considering the number of stakeholders involved in the process. From insurance companies to patients to physicians and more, each party has its expectations, which may often be at odds with one another’s.
You can streamline your operations with a revenue cycle management service. This includes all the steps required to get reimbursed by insurers for claims processed by your hospital and its medical staff. Here are five tips to improve your hospital’s revenue cycle management.
#1 Hire a designated care coordinator
A designated care coordinator is a person who cares for a patient from admission to discharge. They will be responsible for ensuring that all necessary procedures are completed on time and that everyone involved with the patient understands their role in the process. To keep up to date with value-based reimbursement, a care coordinator should always stay current with new legislation and policy and measure the organization’s efficiency.
Hiring a care coordinator for your healthcare organization can help streamline your revenue cycle management. So whoever you hire must have experience in several areas, including communication, being responsible for monitoring, and project management. It is better if they have experience as an administrator or manager.
#2 Use Software Solutions
To improve your revenue cycle management, you should consider using software solutions to automate your manual processes. This will help prevent errors and ensure your data’s accuracy, enabling you to identify areas of improvement in real-time quickly.
- Software solutions can also help streamline your billing process by offering online payments and scheduling appointments, making it easier for patients to get the care they need on time.
- Create a waiting room that is designed for efficiency and does not waste time by having people stand in line for hours. This can be done with a simple computerized check-in system.
- Utilize an online registration process, which allows patients the freedom of filling out the form from home and scheduling an appointment from the comfort of their own homes.
#3 Audit your denials
A great way to improve revenue cycle management is by conducting a denial audit. This process entails reviewing your denials for possible overpayments, underpayments, and other errors, to better understand how often these mistakes happen and how much you might be owed.
You can do a denial audit internally or with the help of an outside consultant. Either way, it will help you understand where any weaknesses in your system may exist, and then you can improve them so that fewer mistakes are made.
#4 Track performance
In the healthcare industry, revenue cycle management is a crucial part of the business. It’s essential to keep track of your organization’s performance to improve and stay competitive.
Find out where you are doing well and where you need improvement. With this, you can focus your resources on the right areas.
Another helpful way to improve your hospital’s revenue cycle management is by benchmarking yourself against similar hospitals.
Don’t be afraid to consult with outside sources for help, either. It can be hard to know what needs improvement if you’re not an expert in every area of hospital operations.
#5 Automate patient financial experience
One way that hospitals can improve their revenue cycle management is by automating the patient’s financial experience. This will include updating the registration process, new patient forms, and statements. In addition, automation tools for discharge processes may be beneficial in reducing errors and streamlining post-care instructions.
Also, review your current contracts with payers, so they don’t have restrictive terms like requiring a provider to use a specific billing service.
Conclusion
The more efficient your hospital is, the higher your revenue will be. Following these five tips can improve your revenue cycle management and help you achieve your business goals. You need to manage all aspects of your revenue cycle with a holistic approach. You can streamline operations by integrating various departments and optimizing workflow. Implement the latest technology to increase productivity. You must ensure you collect payments from uninsured patients, so they don’t go into collections. Also, ensure you train the staff in customer service and keep up-to-date on changes in healthcare laws.
