A Note from the Author: Somewhat ironically, I’m seated in a crowded hospital lobby while writing this article. There are multiple medical personnel just trying to catch a few spare moments to eat a quick lunch. A surgical associate is fielding phone calls while sneaking bites of what appears to be turkey on rye. The moral is: As a healthcare professional, your schedule is overwhelming. So, I’ll make this short and simple—maybe something you can read while eating your lunch on borrowed time.
If you see 20 patients a day, statistically you will only receive payment from nine of them.
That’s the sad reality of the healthcare industry. While revenue lags, costs are soaring (by 26.5% in the past year alone). Combine that with everything you and your staff do during the day, from patient care to operational tasks, there is little time to dedicate to medical billing—and that’s a big problem that can’t be ignored.
The health of your revenue cycle is crucial to keep your practice up and running. So, whether non-payment is caused by an insurance issue, a costly denial cycle, insufficient patient portals or something else, it’s time to get to the bottom of it—and that’s where Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) saves the day!
Think of RCM like a doctor for your billing department.
Your revenue cycle needs regular health checks to make sure it’s collecting payment to its fullest potential. By evaluating your billing processes, prescribing adjustments for improved efficiency and streamlining your activities, RCM works to restore the health of your revenue cycle so you see maximum returns.
What’s more is that it manages the process for you, greatly easing pressure on your staff to complete billing-related tasks while also managing the practice’s operations day-to-day.
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Simply put: Without effective medical billing, your practice is at risk.
You deserve to be rewarded for your hard work. That’s the key reason you need RCM. But with less than half of all medical bills being paid, you definitely need better returns to keep the proverbial “lights on.” Otherwise, operating your practice at a loss means you risk closing your doors for good.
By skillfully managing the entire life-cycle of each patient account—from creation to payment—RCM is your avenue to greater billing returns, ensuring you get paid and cover all costs associated with running your practice.
Learn more: Explore more billing and payment industry trends in the Healthcare Financial Crisis: The Denial Dilemma infographic.
A good RCM partner will give you a variety of options to pick and choose from, depending on the medical billing goals you have for your practice. While there are many services available to you, let’s explore those two main categories and what they can do for you.
Core RCM Strategy Services focus on the backend of the medical billing process by providing assistance with insurance claims and payments, appeals and denials, reporting and customer service for patients. Simply put, Core RCM Strategy Services streamline claims submissions and appeals to shorten the time between services rendered and payment as well as maximizing the revenue you generate from each claim.
Patient Balance Services cover patient interaction with your practice and its billing department. This includes customized messaging, automated reminders and improved patient portals that make it easy for your patients to pay on their balances.
If getting your billing activities in line and streamlining the collections process sounds like too much for your limited staff to handle, outsourcing to an RCM expert may be the best option for you. A partner will not only give you access to specialized medical billing expertise, but should also have trustworthy, effective billing technology to offer. That allows you to focus on what’s most important—your patients—while experts accurately and efficiently manage your revenue stream.
To learn more about how RCM can benefit your practice specifically, request a consultation!
GBS RevCycle is a leading medical billing service with more than 40 years of experience revolutionizing revenue collection for practices like yours. We’re a catalyst for positive change in your collections, accelerated cash flow and increased billing efficiency, all so you can get paid for the life-saving work you do every day.