When thinking about the patient experience, revenue cycle does not immediately come to mind. But the revenue cycle is woven throughout a patient's journey and has a significant impact on the patient experience and patient satisfaction.
In a Becker's Hospital Review webinar sponsored by R1 RCM, Todd Craghead, former VP of revenue cycle at Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare and now SVP of commercial relationships at R1 RCM, and Will Reilly, vice president of marketing at R1 RCM, discussed current revenue cycle management (RCM) challenges and the importance of strategic RCM partnerships.
Five key insights were:
- RCM leaders continue to face significant financial and staffing challenges. According to an R1 survey of senior revenue cycle leaders, 96 percent expect additional strain on RCM operations and 90 percent are experiencing a labor shortage. "We're seeing a confluence of challenges including financial pressure, staffing shortages and turnover, the rapid pace of technological change and digitization, ever increasing mobility and the growing expectation of patients," Mr. Reilly said. "All these things coming together represent a significant challenge for healthcare providers going into 2023."
- Like many providers, Intermountain Healthcare worked with several RCM partners over the years, leading to a fragmented experience. "It's evident that most, if not all, organizations today are leveraging some type of partnership," Mr. Craghead said. "Often, the partnership is narrowly defined; perhaps it's targeting some element of eligibility, denials or patient-oriented collections. Although that has created opportunity in some regards, it also creates this fragmented patient experience."
- Revenue cycle touches all points in a patient's journey, requiring a more comprehensive solution that can drive a seamless patient experience. "A lot of digital technology is focused on the clinical environment but woven all the way through are key elements of the revenue cycle," Mr. Craghead said. "It became critical to identify a partner or multiple partners who could help accelerate the pace around leveraging the RCM technology that exists today to seamlessly integrate this technology to improve the patient experience."
- For health systems facing staffing shortages — which is most — strategic RCM partners can be a valuable option. Many front-line RCM positions can experience a turnover rate of around . RCM-focused organizations can offer individuals in the RCM field clear career paths with more opportunities.
For health systems, forming strategic partnerships with focused RCM experts that have great people and a strong technology platform can be extremely beneficial. "If health systems face inadequate staff in a particular area, a strategic partner may have greater capacity to fill that void," Mr. Craghead said.
- Effective RCM contributes to building patient loyalty through customer satisfaction. "RCM must provide patients with the outcomes they need in a meaningful way, and those outcomes will then translate into patients coming back to the health system again and again," Mr. Craghead said.
By finding the right strategic RCM partner with the right RCM technology — instead of multiple smaller vendors with small pieces of the RCM puzzle — health systems can streamline their RCM process and positively affect the patient experience.
To register for upcoming webinars, click here.