As we usher in a new year, it’s tempting to think last year's challenges will magically go away, and we can start with a clean slate. Unfortunately, three years of COVID-19 continue to impact hospitals, health systems and physician groups. In revenue cycle management, we expect that the healthcare industry will still be dealing with:
- Financial instability
- Staffing issues related to RCM and processing accounts
- Patient satisfaction and retention
- Missing revenues
Declining reimbursements from insurance companies along with higher patient deductibles and self-pay will continue to impact healthcare facilities. While hospitals, health systems and physician groups need more people to follow up with the insurance side and the people side of the equation, it’s not just about collecting money. It’s also important to provide excellence in the patient experience.
We recommend that healthcare organizations take a hard look at the revenue cycle from front to back in order to identify any gaps that exist. Then decide whether you have the internal resources to solve those issues or need to look for a trusted partner to help. Because of staffing shortages, the Great Resignation, inflation and the challenging financial times we are in, having the right partner is more valuable than ever. While that partner does not necessarily need to be in the starting lineup for all services, having them on the bench means you can put them in the game whenever you need them.
The issues facing the healthcare industry require constantly innovating solutions to support a healthy revenue cycle. Our team can help through:
- Outsourcing to help resolve AR before it falls to bad debt
- Providing artificial intelligence solutions that deliver dynamic results faster and more efficiently, freeing your RCM team to focus on more complex issues
- Identifying missed revenues from niche areas such as Medicare Bad Debt and collecting on those dollars
- Reducing administrative burdens and driving more revenue with our comprehensive one-stop solution, MedComplete
