If you find your medical practice is putting more time into collecting bills than into actual care of your patients, it may be time to update your revenue cycle management or medical billing solutions. Whether you are still working from Excel spreadsheets or you have adopted sometimes more sophisticated, you have an RCM solution in place. However, it may not be the optimal solution.
A new generation of RCM platforms is revolutionizing how medical offices manage workflow, speed up claim payments and lower the percentage of botched claims. Your RCM is the equalizer against the large insurance companies who otherwise have every advantage. Here are a few tips on picking the best one for you.
A Rich Yet Manageable Software Package
You want your RCM solution to be robust. However, it cannot be so complex as to confuse your office staff. Most RCM solutions will meet the minimum requirements of your office. You need to look at the deeper features to ensure your adaptability in the future as well as in the present.
Does your staff take to the software well? Most RCMs will offer a free trial. Do the comparison and let your staff tell you what is best for them.
Proactive Management of Revenue
You must take control of your revenue cycles, or someone else will. Your RCM platform should drastically reduce those necessary evils in your office like appointment reminders, referral management and submission of claims.
Part of being proactive is having a complete set of business analytics. Complete means being able to do more than simply react to your issues as they come. The right RCM will give you the ability to assess the productivity of your providers and set performance benchmarks.
Additionally, your office will make changes in the future, whether you can see them today or not. The best RCMs have the ability to port themselves easily without starting completely from scratch.
Optimizing Processes in the Office
An RCM solutions provider should be partnering with you closely to go over your day to day routines, cutting away the fat with the new technologies and processes it provides. First, a full overview of your staff’s current performance is essential. You will go over which tasks are the primary responsibility of the office and which are the responsibility of the partner. Some tasks will be up in the air in terms of responsibility and contingent upon the ability of the in house staff to handle the workload.
Your staff should be able to easily transition the outsourced tasks to the platform. Your staff must also be able to clearly see the benefits of the outsourcing that takes place. You will probably need to conduct a cost – benefit analysis with each task, as more outsourcing will likely lead to greater fees.
Long Term Partnership Potential
Ideally, you will not switch RCM partners often. You need to know if that partner will be there through thick and thin. You can test for this during the sales process.
Some of the most important things to know are if the partner will provide phone support for your in-office hours, if the help desk is domestic or overseas, and what sort of issues are handled by the partner. Your employees need to have a complete understanding of what the partner will handle so as not to become frustrated under pressure.
Transparency of Data
Will your staff have all access to records that are transferred into the medical billing system? This is not always a given, so do not take it as a given. The right partner will give you real time access to any information that you are looking to review. Static reports are not enough in today’s fast moving world of medical billing.
{{cta(’72ca2cf3-6f52-4962-bff1-d123e0a20a50′,’justifycenter’)}}