Ask a Revenue Cycle Leader is a new series featuring insights from health system and hospital revenue cycle executives nationwide. Becker’s poses questions on the most pressing issues in healthcare finance — from payer relations and automation to workforce and patient experience. We welcome responses from all revenue cycle, finance and reimbursement leaders.
Question: What is one task you’d never hand to AI, no matter how good it gets.
Jennifer Dzendzel. Associate Chief Revenue Officer at UK HealthCare (Lexington, Ky.): One task I would never fully hand to AI is the patient-facing work that my financial counseling team does to assist patients who are facing difficult decisions and financial hardship. AI is great at transactional workflows and data analysis, but it cannot replace the empathy, compassion and trust required when discussing a patient’s financial concerns in the midst of a health crisis. The genuine human connection in those difficult conversations is priceless.
Paul LePage. Vice President of Revenue Cycle at UC Davis Health (Sacramento, Calif.): A patient conversation. AI can identify the balance, explain insurance rules, predict propensity to pay and even recommend the best financial assistance options. But when a patient is facing a devastating diagnosis or a bill they genuinely cannot afford, the human judgment, empathy and accountability of that conversation should stay with a person.
MariaRita Genovese. Director of Revenue Cycle and Business Operations for MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper (Camden, N.J.): I would use AI to assist with research, identify patterns and flag potential coding issues, but I would never delegate the final coding judgment entirely to AI. Complex cases require human interpretation of clinical documentation, nuanced coding guidelines, payer requirements and the context of the patient’s care.
Mike Vigo. Chief Revenue Officer at UC San Diego Health: I would never hand AI the responsibility for decisions that affect people’s lives. In healthcare, many of our choices impact patients, families, caregivers, physicians and employees in ways that cannot be fully captured in data. Although AI can help us identify patterns, evaluate options and inform decisions, it cannot truly understand the fear of not knowing what is to come, the stress of a financial or administrative burden, nor the human consequences that can follow as that impacts people on a very personal level. When people’s lives are affected, accountability, empathy and judgment must remain very much human.
Next question: What is the most dangerous trend in the revenue cycle today, and why? If you are interested in responding, please send responses to Andrew Cass at acass@beckershealthcare.com.
