Here are six revenue cycle management tips from experts, published by Becker's Hospital Review after Sept. 7.
1. Lyman Sornberger, president and CEO of consulting firm Lyman Health Care Solutions, said there are various best practices hospitals can use to maximize insurance collections. He recommended that hospitals "capture insurance coverage at the benefit level" and "invest in pre-service validation with the patient and insurance for high-end service."
2. Jay Garmon, product manager of patient responsibility at Waystar, said hospitals should establish programs to help patients pay their medical expenses. He gave the example of consistently offering cost estimates to patients before procedures, so they can financially plan for their out-of-pocket costs and seek financial assistance if needed.
3. Jonathan Wiik, author of Healthcare Revolution: The Patient is the New Payer and principal for healthcare strategy at TransUnion Healthcare, said hospitals should use technology to evaluate propensity to pay. "The key is to use this solution as early as possible in the account lifecycle, preferably on day one, to collect more, earlier and for less. Providers can streamline their collections process by using [propensity to pay] analytics to accurately classify accounts into the optimal payment workflow based on the patient's unique financial situation," he told Becker's.
4. Paul Shorrosh, founder and CEO of AccuReg Software, said standardizing and automating front-end processes, such as registration, helps eliminate revenue cycle errors. "Front-end automation technology provides patient access teams with the ability to detect and resolve financial risks" and patients with information and a better experience, he told Becker's. "It simplifies and standardizes complex processes, reduces payment risks and reduces the high cost of time-consuming manual processes in both the front and back-end of the [revenue] cycle."
5. Paul Brient, CEO of PatientKeeper, said it's important that healthcare executives cultivate an atmosphere that fosters collaboration with physicians toward hospital goals. "If a physician sees a hospital giving them time back in their day by streamlining their workflow, that's a step in the right direction," Mr. Brient told Becker's. "If a physician feels they can practice medicine in the way they were trained, rather than conform to what the hospital EHR requires, that's another step in the right direction."
6. David Shelton, CEO of PatientMatters, said hospitals should consider a patient's traits when establishing a payment plan. Establishing payment plans that include current credit information, payment history for financial obligations, residual income and other unique patient statistics should all be considered in the billing process, he said.
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