Health systems should update antiquated pricing benchmarks to boost revenue cycle integrity and performance, said Kevin Smith, vice president of product management at nThrive, a revenue cycle management company.
"There is plenty of healthcare pricing data available publicly; the problem is that most of it is 12 to 18 months old," he wrote in a recent blog post. "To establish a defensible pricing strategy, your health system is better served by accessing current, relevant data that enables custom comparison-to-market pricing results."
Mr. Smith said using current data helps organizations determine the amount of revenue impact of pricing scenarios, among other benefits.
"A sound pricing strategy compares pricing to CMS, national and custom benchmarks, CMS national, state and hospital benchmarks, cost and relative value unit and fee schedules. New codes should be introduced in your system annually," he concluded.
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