At the turn of the millennium, the world braced for the impact of Y2K.
Would power grids fail? Savings accounts get wiped out? Would hospital systems go dark at midnight? Speculation (and fear) ran rampant.
As it turned out, nothing really happened. Or did it? The long, anxious buildup to Y2K forced businesses and even entire industries to test their processes, fix areas of vulnerability, and strengthen operations. While the doomsday scenarios never materialized, the specter of what could happen forced everyone to tap into their collective resolve and prepare for the worst. And it made them better. Thankfully, there was no chaos. No anarchy. Just stronger, more resilient systems left behind.
That’s often how disruptive events work. They’re big and intimidating, but they also force us to adapt. Over the years, healthcare has had its own share of seismic events to navigate. For example:
- The ACA rollout reshaped the insurance landscape.
- COVID-19 was an unprecedented event that pushed the entire healthcare industry and its workers to the breaking point.
- AI arrived with almost unimaginable possibilities, along with uncertainty and questions about its governance.
Now we stand at the edge of another industry inflection point: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB). Like some events before it, the OBBB has the potential to reshape the way we work and force us to adjust to a new normal.
To some extent, hospitals and healthcare workers have already grown accustomed to doing this on a daily basis. Ongoing staffing challenges, payers using AI to spike denials, and evolving patient expectations create a steadily moving target for revenue cycle success. Resilience and adaptability are no longer optional. The organizations that tap into this muscle memory to embrace change are the ones who will be most successful when it arrives.
Whatever disruption the OBBB brings, if any, I’m reminded of the old saying, “This too shall pass.” And when it does, I think we’ll all be better and stronger for it, like we’ve always been.
This issue of Cycle Up outlines steps you can take today to safeguard your revenue cycle from disruptive events, everything from tightening your pre-registration process to evaluating your current bad debt partner.
Pressure tests us, but it also helps define us. I hope some of the information in this edition of Cycle Up helps prepare you for whatever comes next, and reminds you how capable we already are.
As always, thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
Jeff Nieman
CEO