Time and again we hear practices expressing frustration over sinking collections and an internal audit attributes it to a variety of reasons such as stringent regulations, an ever-evolving payer mix, resource crunch, etc. However, sometimes collections can shrink due to reasons which companies fail to take into account. These reasons might include unnecessary delays in claim submission, outdated payment options and un-optimized workflows. Let’s take a look at each one of these reasons in detail-
1. Limited or Outdated Patient Payment Options
In the age of technology, providing patients with just one avenue for making payment smacks of incompetency. Customers are looking for convenience of multi-payments and unless you provide this, your revenue cycle will suffer. And the best way to start is by augmenting your traditional payment option with an online payment option and a 24-hour payment by telephone option.
2. Delaying Your Claims Submissions
Because of the time consuming nature of claims submission process, many practices have developed a habit of delaying submissions until the end of each work week. Though submitting claims on a weekly batch might seem like a good idea in the short term, it has the potential to cause costly delays that can push your revenue cycle into long term disarray. To be more elaborate, this claims submission schedule has three major flaws. Firstly it adds extra load on your practice by increasing the turnaround time for claims. Secondly it increases the chances of a claim being lost over the course of the week. Furthermore, any delay in submission will also mean that the process of correcting and re-submitting denied claims will further be pushed back and thus hurt the revenue cycle of the practice.
Hence the best practice to streamline your revenue cycle will be to submit claims at the end of each day. You can also opt to automate the claims filling process as much as possible with the help of a software and greatly bring down the time and effort required in this process.
3. Not Optimizing Time and Workflows
The old saying which relates time to money is absolutely true when it comes to running a healthcare practice. After all, mismanagement of time in this business translates into fewer patient visits and this means less income for your practice. The same is true with regard to physician and staff workflow.
The easiest way to overcome this common source of lost revenue is by accurate scheduling and division of labor.
Use these tips to avoid the three most common revenue cycle management mistakes. And in case you want more help in improving your practice’s finances, consider outsourcing your revenue cycle services to a reliable third party service provider like us. Leveraging our immense experience in the industry, we offer end-to-end revenue management services beginning with a patient’s admission, followed by treatment and discharge, and up to post-discharge claims and accounts settlement.
