Brian Unell serves as vice president of revenue cycle at Piedmont Healthcare, a seven-hospital system in Atlanta with more than 100 locations.
He previously served as interim executive to assist Piedmont's CFO with special projects such as the system's Epic and contact center implementations. Mr. Unell also has served as senior project manager/executive director of project management during his time at Piedmont. Before joining Piedmont, Mr. Unell worked in consulting and also gained experience at a publicly-traded healthcare company.
Mr. Unell recently answered questions from Becker's Hospital Review about his greatest challenges as a revenue cycle leader and how he would improve the revenue cycle process.
Note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity.
Question: What is your favorite part about being a revenue cycle leader of a healthcare system?
Brian Unell: The best part about being a revenue cycle leader at Piedmont Healthcare is the opportunity to work with multiple departments, increasing our ability to have a lasting impact on patients' lives by minimizing administrative burdens. Our current focus is on transforming the patient experience and enabling a number of self-services such as online scheduling that ultimately give the consumer greater access to and control of their healthcare.
Q: What is the biggest challenge you're facing as a revenue cycle leader?
BU: Our biggest challenge centers on talent. The competition to recruit and retain qualified individuals that will help take the business to the next level is always tough. With calls for increased transparency and self-service options, there also is a need for talent with a different mindset and skillset than revenue cycle teams may have hired historically. Today, talent needs to be able to manage transactions as well as exceptions, troubleshoot and solve problems independently as well as make customer service their top priority.
Q: What is one of your goals this year?
BU: One of my goals is to streamline integration from a revenue cycle standpoint as Piedmont Healthcare continues to grow. The speed in which our organization is growing necessitates these things be managed properly on the front end. With each integration comes a different set of challenges but our focus remains the same: doing our part to get us closer to a unified, hassle-free patient experience.
Q: What is one thing you'd do to improve the revenue cycle process?
BU: One thing I'd do to improve the revenue cycle process is to have insurance companies and hospitals work together to send combined statements, instead of the way it is currently done. Often, patients' dissatisfaction stems from them receiving an explanation of benefits from their insurance company that doesn't match the bill they receive from the hospital. The total amount due is different on the two statements. It is a common issue we face in revenue cycle and there has to be a better way for insurance companies and hospitals to come together on this.
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