5 Quick Tips to Boost your Revenue Cycle

As high-deductible plans are becoming more and more prevalent, it is becoming difficult for providers to collect what they have earned. Today, practices don’t just have to worry about the usual coding and billing challenges or denials. Now deductible plans are also posing issues in revenue management. And to top it all, the mandated shift from fee-for-service to value-based reimbursement model has made things more difficult.

So in this ever changing healthcare landscape, how are providers supposed to boost their revenue cycle? Here are top five effective tips that might be of some help:

1. It will be of great help if providers can make the patient pay easily. From contacting patients and letting they know how much they owe to giving them various payment options, there is a lot that can be done to make it easy for them to pay. Work out payments plans and financing options for patients who find it difficult to pay their bills upfront.
2. According to the industry experts, providers must track key performance indicators of their practice. From tracking claim denial rate to net days in A/R and cost to collect, there are several indicators that should be tracked to reveal whether or not the staff is performing the assigned tasks accurately and efficiently. Tracking will help you realize the loopholes and areas where changes are required.
3. Mapping out the RCM process is another important tip to consider. From outlining steps like scheduling and patient visits to claim submission, payment posting and A/R management, each step in the RCM process needs to be well outlined before changes are made.
4. It will help to create a detailed policy for billing and collections at the practice because finding loopholes in the billing and coding procedure can work wonders in getting the revenue cycle back on track.
5. Get the workflow audited because conducting regular audits of patient scheduling and final claim submission can be a great way to streamline the operations at the practice. You will discover issues and inefficiencies that can hamper your chance of successful claims processing.

It is not an easy task to navigate through today’s healthcare landscape. Unless providers are prepared to undertake a strong RCM approach, they cannot be successful in this environment. They need to continue focusing on each area of their practice to improve functions and ensure smooth workflow.