Healthcare companies that boast quick payments, easy patient communication, and efficient billing systems all have one thing in common: excellent revenue cycle management (RCM). Optimizing your business’s RCM is the fastest way to reduce DSO, collect more of what you’re owed, and expand your patient base. By implementing practices like these, you’ll find solutions to today’s problems as well as ways to stay on track as your business grows.
Is your staff still putting pen to paper every time a new patient enters your program? If so, you’re likely wasting valuable time processing physical documentation, tracking down paperwork, and correcting errors. But when you take advantage of opportunities to digitize patient intake, you can stop problems before they start by preventing clerical errors and opening up communication.
Using services to improve patient intake management, you’ll be able to:
Ashley Brown, Brightree’s Senior director of operations, says it best in this video:
Hello, my name is Ashley Brown, and I’m the Senior Director of Operations for our revenue cycle management team located in Paddock Lake, Wisconsin. Our clients are always asking us what the secret sauce is to submitting clean claims. And the answer is simple– it’s clean intake.
We believe the best practice for clean intake is ensuring that you’re responding to your incoming referrals in a timely fashion. If there’s any delay in delivering that equipment to the patient, you’re not only keeping your patient in constant contact, but you’re also keeping your referral in constant contact.
After you receive the referral, it’s extremely important that you’re obtaining an accurate insurance verification. This would include if you’re in or out of network, what your out-of-pocket is, what the patient’s co-insurance and deductible is, if prior authorization is required, and any other payer requirements.
Once you get the payer requirements, it’s extremely important that your business understands those requirements and that they’re following them and obtaining the appropriate documentation. Then once you get that documentation, you’re going to want to take a look at that sales order. Do you have the appropriate modifiers in the places that they need to be? Do you have the appropriate claim notes that need to be submitted on the claim?
The last step is talking to your patient, letting them know that their equipment is on the way, discussing what their financial obligations are, collecting that copay upfront, or getting them enrolled in autopay. If you have a backlog in your incoming faxes or you have a large volume of health revenue, RCM services could be the answer for you.
“The best practice for clean intake is ensuring that you are responding to your incoming referrals in a timely fashion.”
When you’re able to eliminate your backlog of referrals, you’ll be on your way to financial success because new efficiencies in intake flows to your ability to maximize revenue.
Which sounds better: working on a system that is prone to human error and vulnerable to manual delays, or using a proven, successful method for automatically connecting with patients, receiving payments, and tracking critical data? While there’s just no substitute for today’s sophisticated software options, many providers are looking for expert guidance on these systems to handle their biggest medical billing problems.
Analysis of customers using our RCM services has shown our ability to impact everything from reducing held A/R and DSO to improving collections-to-billing ratios. In fact, our customers achieve an average of 24% increase in net revenue collection and a 50% reduction in DSO.
The ability to use your systems to the fullest capacity also allows your qualified staff to spend time on prioritized projects rather than filing paperwork and chasing down payments. You no longer have to worry about tasks like:
Watch this video to hear more about how one provider was able to experience rapid company growth by streamlining inefficient billing practices.
Watch this video to hear more about how Cape Medical Supply increased its revenue and kept up with company growth by streamlining inefficient billing practices.
If you’re like many HME providers, you struggle with low collection rates and high costs to collect insurance reimbursements. With so many factors that go into keeping your revenue cycle running smoothly and payments rolling in, you need to be able to accurately identify where you’re falling short and what you can do to get back on top.
When you’re at the point where you want to grow your revenue but don’t know where to start, a specialized outside service with healthcare revenue cycle management experts who can help you analyze your processes may be your next best step. When we consult with healthcare companies, we look for things like:
With an expert team on your side that is dedicated to helping you process incoming referrals and claims and manage A/R in an integrated, secure environment, you can revolutionize your RCM system like Aeratech Medical. Hear from CEO Roy Neely in this case study on the importance of teaming with revenue cycle experts like Brightree who can determine the best way to collect money for your business.
Taking your revenue cycle from a constant headache to a streamlined system that runs itself will transform not only your cashflow but your business’s ability to reach unprecedented growth. Whether you’re ready to make a move now or you’ve just started to contemplate your next steps, teaming with a company like Brightree puts you at the forefront of a technology-driven, integrated RCM strategy. We’re here to help. Get in touch with a Brightree expert today to find the right solutions for your business.
Reading Time: 6 minutes Research we conducted last year shows that 99% of referring providers in acute and ambulatory hospital settings, as well as physician offices, prefer to work with post-acute partners with whom they can interoperate effectively.
Reading Time: 3 minutes After decades working for a home infusion agency as a general manager and as a support team leader, John Mathis understands the unique challenges your agency faces every day, as well as the importance of building relationships to run a successful business. Find out how he uses that in-depth experience in his role as a customer success manager for Brightree.