Revenue cycle management is one of the most critical factors in establishing a positive cash flow. In the absence of a strong billing department, you must be aware that your practice may suffer considerable losses in terms of payer reimbursements, patient payments, and other income streams.

Having a good revenue cycle management plan in place is essential for success. The procedures involved in the revenue cycle and the benefits of high-quality service are:

RCM

Revenue cycle management includes the entire cycle, from the beginning of a visit through the patient’s payment. It also necessitates deciding whether or not to implement unified software and outsource RCM service to a qualified vendor for the practice to run more efficiently. To maximize your profit, always pick the traits that apply to you the most.

Verifying eligibility and preapproval

The revenue cycle management method starts with two steps: pre-authorization and registration. At this point, the best thing to do is to start compiling the patient’s financial and insurance information. Currently, automated eligibility verification technologies assist patients by letting them know their financial responsibilities, and you, as the provider, by letting you know how they will be paid for certain services. The tools for insurance verification and price transparency included in fully integrated practice management and medical billing solutions can be improved in this situation by a revenue cycle management business.

Collection of fees and services

Making the patient’s services into chargeable charges is the second stage of revenue cycle management. Charge capture is the term for this procedure. This step of revenue cycle management affects the claims process. It happens when you include a medical billing code in the claim.

You may have access to essential coding tools with the help of medical billing software, allowing you to code more accurately and ensuring quick reimbursement. Every claim is correctly coded from the start, thanks to technology for claims purification. This lowers administrative costs associated with claim denials, which can run hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Claim submission and rejection management

The procedure used by the revenue cycle management firm after that is asserting. When the charge capture process is complete, the appropriately coded claim is forwarded to the payer. This step in the revenue cycle management process may be improved by practice management software and RCM service providers that can follow the claims in real-time and stop them before they can be denied.

For payment to be made as quickly as practical, you must ensure the firm submits claims that are at least 99% correct. When outsourcing the billing to an healthcare debt collection provider, choose a suitable practice management technology. Automate the temporary procedure to assure the team that the payer will get the claim.

If the claim is denied, the vendor and billing software relationship helps you file it again as soon as is practical. These stages of revenue cycle management may also be improved by utilizing essential components of a first-rate medical billing system and rapidly identifying common coding issues.

The group could alter its strategy to avoid further rejections.

Payment

After the patient’s insurer has authorized the claim, the payer payment will be sent, and the patient’s out-of-pocket charge will be posted for payment. With an integrated billing solution, patients may check and pay their invoices in their patient portals. In addition, the integrated practice management system lets you tell patients about their accounts and urge them to make payments.

Again, the emphasis should be on ensuring that payments are complete and on time. Throughout this procedure, the RCM service provider should offer excellent collections services. Additionally, it’s more about helping with payment optimization and putting people on the right track to getting out of debt for medical expenses.

Truthful reporting

Getting paid is the last step in the RCM process. The process also needs top-notch reporting tools to stay on track and avoid costly mistakes. Practical reporting features in the medical billing software may quickly identify common issues during the revenue cycle management process. However, it’s more about slipping between the cracks.

With the aid of the revenue cycle management company, you can deal with these problems and preserve the bottom line. It will be straightforward to reduce days in arrears by identifying patterns and impediments in the revenue cycle.

Minimizing revenue cycle management challenges

The significant workforce problem has severely impacted the revenue cycle departments that the healthcare industry is currently dealing with. In addition, the financial viability of healthcare institutions is also at stake due to worker burnout, sluggish payment procedures, and other problems in revenue cycle departments across the nation.

Autonomous coding is a technique for fully automating medical coding. Additionally, it aids companies in overcoming challenges to ensure long-term monetary stability.

 

Dealing with personnel concerns

Workforce shortages in revenue cycle management are at previously unheard-of levels. The business’s revenue cycle management division also needs extra personnel. The CEO explains the shortage as caused by the “great resignation” factor, increased skill competition, and growing human costs. Sadly, there are currently no signs that this will end soon.

Companies are progressively turning to automation technology to deal with these problems and ensure the long-term stability of revenue.

Various methods of automation

Several methods for utilizing automation in RCM are available. Each also comes with its own set of benefits and uses. One end of the spectrum is employing technology to automate simple repetitive tasks; examples include robotic process automation (RPA). The system uses rules to mimic how people carry out tasks. For example, it enables RCM departments to automate the creation of cost estimates, data input, and other straightforward processes.

The spectrum automates every revenue cycle stage using technology like autonomous coding. For instance, numerous AI subfields are used to automate the RCM step of medical coding. The goal is for the automatically coded charts to meet or exceed the human coder accuracy standard so they may be sent straight to payers for payment.

Use AI to handle the labor shortage

Reduce burnout

Medical coders are now responsible for coding more patient information than ever before. This might lead to more worker burnout since programmers must substantially increase their productivity while maintaining high coding quality standards. However, once you can automate code for a particular percentage of charts, autonomous coding will reduce the workload for the coding team. The system also allows medical coders to focus on coding patient records with more complex medical issues, reducing the likelihood of burnout.

Removing backlogs in the code

Another possible consequence of medical coders having a higher-than-average chart workload is coding backlogs. Consequently, when programmers want assistance to keep up with the increasing demand, revenue cycle departments may discover hundreds of charts waiting to be written. This might result in a significant bottleneck in the revenue cycle, which would quickly postpone payment cycles.

Conclusion

The healthcare industry is utilizing revenue cycle management. We can successfully solve the current staffing shortage. Your business may count on us to process charts constantly in case of further human resource shortages or changes in the number of charts. We can thus provide the adaptability and stability that are essential at this time. First, you must speak with our experts to discover the exact process. Then, we can help you with the overall management process.

The bottom line is to use patient payment technology that leverages data to auto-adjust communication appropriately.