5 Tips for Revenue Cycle Management for 2018

As a professional in the healthcare industry, you know firsthand just how complicated managing claims, dealing with patient insurance, and getting bills out on time can be.

Are you tired of the miscommunications, the stress of chasing down patients, and the long billing cycles?

If so, then it sounds like you’re in need of a few revenue cycle management updates.

In this post, we’re sharing some of our top RCM tips that will help you spend more of your day with patients and less time on the phone with insurance representatives.

We’ll also tell you where you can find quality RCM software and services to help make things even easier.

1. Evaluate Your Current Revenue Cycle Management Strategy

It’s hard to know how to fix your current RCM plan if you don’t know what’s wrong with it in the first place.

To really understand what needs improvement, you’re going to have to do some serious auditing and data deep-diving.

Measure your overall rate of success and take a look at the average length of time that it takes for you to collect payment. Make sure you understand how much of the total due you’re actually getting.

When claims are denied, take a hard look at the reasons why. For example, was it because of an error in coding, or was the patient’s information missing?

Conduct thorough research to determine your current collection rate. Set new benchmarks and goals, and make them clear to your staff.

2. Work Ahead with Pre-Admission Services

Once a patient has left your office, it becomes that more difficult to re-establish contact with him to get any information you need.

This lengthens the billing and payment process. It also adds considerable stress to both your employees and patients.

The solution?

Reach out to your patients and start collecting that information before they ever set foot in your office.

Make sure they know how to pay the forms they’ll need to fill out and which insurance information they need to provide (and which ones you accept), Remember to get their questions answered as well.

This also gives you the chance to screen patients and ensure that the information they’ve given you is accurate. It could save you serious headaches down the line.

3. Get Professional RCM Services

We know that revenue cycle management can be incredibly challenging and time-consuming.

With everything else you have to do in a day, it’s easy to let revenue cycle management fall through the cracks.

That’s why using professional RCM software and services is a huge trend for 2018. More and more businesses are switching to it to save time and resources.

Look for software that can help you with payment and claims processing and financial reporting. Ideally, it should provide monthly patient statements as well as both primary and secondary billing.

Also, ask potential software companies about month end reporting and claim follow-ups. Try to find out more about the collection of unpaid co-payments and electronic remittance.

These are all problems that can eat up your time and increase the possibility of human error. The right RCM software can help streamline your workflow and eliminate these issues.

4. Anticipate Regulatory Changes

Compliance is an enormous part of the healthcare industry — but you know just how often the laws, insurance policies, and overall regulations can change.

If you manage to stay either ahead of or on top of these changes, you’ll lower your risk of getting fined or penalized. Plus, you won’t lose valuable time in your workflow because you’ve had to spend half of your day correcting your mistakes.

When in doubt, ask a regulator to clarify any changes you don’t understand. Make it a habit to frequently check in with your state’s guidelines and codes to avoid any problems down the line.

5. Communicate with Your Employees and Patients

It’s not enough to evaluate your revenue cycle management on your own.

The key is to ensure that everyone is on the same page. To prevent breakdowns in communication, you need to constantly host meetings and send out memos to your employees.

You also need to make payer/patient communication your number one priority.

This can seriously help to speed up the claims process. It also ensures that you don’t lose track of any claims that have been denied in the past. Plus, it’s a great way to stay on top of your billing cycle.

Talk to both your patients and employees. Ask how they feel the billing and revenue cycle could be improved or made clearer. Evaluate what’s working and what’s not, and look for weak spots that need improvement.

Make sure the bills are sent to the right place and that the patient knows when and where the bill is coming. Ensure they fully understand the charges and have the payment method you need.

If you make it clear that your door is always open, you’ll see far fewer problems.

Need Further Assistance with Revenue Cycle Management?

Thanks to this post, you now have access to a few expert tips that will help improve your healthcare office’s revenue cycle management strategy.

Remember, it’s all about focusing on communication, anticipating changes, and identifying common errors.

Sometimes, you just don’t want to go through the RCM process on your own. That’s where our team can help.

We’re here to provide the software necessary to improve your workflow and ensure you’re getting the payments you need.

No matter which state your practice is currently operating within, we have the expertise and experience to handle your billing strategy.

Spend some time on our website to learn more about what we offer. When you’re ready to spend less time stressing out over billing and payments, and more time with your patients, reach out to us!