The healthcare industry continues to adjust from the COVID-19 pandemic.

With it has come enormous change and new challenges for hospitals and clinics of all sizes. Facilities have been jam-packed for months, and coding and billing have become even more complicated. With that comes the problem of not only collecting on those billings, but having the staff on hand to manage the massive AR rise. 

Coronis Health has been guiding clients through the tumultuous  COVID-19 pandemic, using our global capabilities to create customized solutions. Our expert team members remain on a first-name basis with the rural hospital healthcare teams we support, maintaining our small-company feel as we grow our capabilities.

RHC Trends We’re Noticing This Quarter

The Hospital and Surgery Center Service Group here at our medical billing service has observed a few trends that can be affecting the bottom line of rural clinics and facilities. 

• Facilities experiencing drops in revenue brought on by COVID-19
• Under-staffing brought on by lack of qualified local talent 

Rural and critical access facilities struggle with hiring not just nurses and doctors but skilled medical billing professionals as well. Finding local talent can be difficult and can lead to thousands of dollars spent on recruitment and hiring. Understaffing can have long-term consequences. Beyond not having enough staff on hand to deal with AR, the staff you have can be affected by overwork and burn-out, creating a perfect storm as you lose staff and struggle to replace them. Many facilities have turned to out-sourcing their billing departments to save money and time.

The “2nd Wave” No One’s Talking About

As Hospitals are experiencing a 2nd wave of COVID, there’s another wave that isn’t being discussed and could be just as consequential for healthcare facilities: a 2nd wave of claims and outstanding billings. As your facility handles patients and reaches capacity, it will have to work harder than ever to capture the revenue necessary to maintain your slim margins. 

Rural facilities and CAHs are already at a breaking point, and a 2nd billing wave could spell disaster. Having an AR department on its toes and prepared to hit revenue targets is paramount as we move through the 2nd COVID wave colliding with the cold & flu season. 

With high deductible plans on the rise, patient collections are becoming a daunting task for providers. Coronis works with you to create a process for collecting at the front and back end of the revenue cycle, as well as equips staff to take care of collections.

How Rural Clinics & Hospitals Will Survive

Rural clinics and hospitals dealt with waves of uncertainty and staff shortages over the last few months due to COVID-19. But with the already present issues of high deductibles and self-pay patients, the flood of new claims can leave facilities struggling to catch up. Our medical billing service provides cost-effective and fast services to help rural facilities thrive and serve their communities. We’re innovators in the field and can provide tech-savvy and innovative solutions quickly and efficiently.  

We specialize in: 

• Cloud-based software for all aspects of billing and coding
• Detailed reporting of and access to patient and account information
• Customizable billing capabilities to simplify the process
• Secure, accurate electronic claims submissions within 48 hours of receipt
• Keeping current with coding changes and updates (e.g., ICD-10 or CPT)
• HIPAA compliance

We understand that rural healthcare facilities provide vital care for communities across the country, but many struggle to keep their doors open and are understaffed. Coronis provides cost-effective and fast services to help rural facilities thrive and serve their communities.

Because we are thought-leaders in the field, innovation is second-nature to us. We strive to be not just a vendor for our clients but a true resource. Our clients know that if they have a question or need advice around revenue cycle, we’re always there to help. We provide monthly education sessions for our providers in addition to 1 on 1 coaching around specific claims.

Navigate UnCHARTed Territory 

At Coronis Health, we pride ourselves on being thought-leaders in the medical billing and RCM industry, and that means keeping up with the latest developments. We’re tracking CMS’ new CHART pay model and what it means for rural facilities. Read our CHART whitepaper here.

Here’s a brief excerpt from our analysis and what CHART aims to accomplish: 

• To increase the financial stability for rural providers through more innovative ways of reimbursing providers that provide up-front investments and predictable, capitated payments that pay for quality and patient outcomes
• To remove the regulatory burden by providing waivers that increase operational and regulatory flexibility for rural providers
• To enhance the beneficiaries’ access to healthcare services by ensuring rural providers remain financially sustainable for years to come and to offer additional services such as those that address social determinants of health (e.g., food and housing)

We support the goal of empowering rural communities to create a system that will deliver high-quality healthcare services to patients by supporting providers through more efficient payment structures. We can help you navigate these new changes and help meet the needs of your practice.

Solve Your Staff Shortage Now

Rural clinics and hospitals can struggle with finding quality local talent. These staff shortages can lead to poor collection rates and an increase in denials. Finding qualified local staff can be time and cost consuming, eating into already thin margins. Even remote staffers can take weeks to properly train.

Coronis can provide remote staffers who are already trained and ready to insert immediately. Saving you money while making you money, our highly-trained team can work with any system, delivering immediate results. We specialize in working with rural facilities to help them sustain growth. Our full-transparency guarantee means every month you know exactly where you stand, where you can improve, and how you can increase your bottom line.

With COVID-19 and an unsure economy, operating expenses have continued to increase. Rising staffing salaries and IT infrastructure requirements in an increasingly digital world are leaving many smaller facilities behind the times and behind on revenue. Coronis Health can help. With a special focus on rural and Critical Access facilities, Coronis Health can help you deal with staffing and tech issues in a cost-efficient manner. Our team follows the latest trends and delivers instant analysis, like the possible medicare COVID pay hike.

Coronis Health started working with the Blue Ridge Community Health Services in Hendersonville, NC just a few weeks before the pandemic officially hit, and we were able to support their team throughout.

“Coronis Health has become a valued partner in our billing operation. The work we do with Coronis is seamless. Coronis Health offers experienced, often more qualified, professional staff at affordable rates. Additionally, they guarantee a minimum level of productivity and are very focused on our ROI and the quality of their work.”

Brian Morton, Chief Financial Officer

Because of our tech-forward and cloud-based approach, we can adjust to any situation and can have our billing team working in weeks, not months.

Schedule an Assessment With Coronis Health – America’s Best Medical Billing Service

If you want to learn more about how Coronis Health can work with your rural healthcare facility, contact us today or request your free financial assessment.