Harnessing the potential of workflow automation in your revenue cycle can bring significant improvements to the financial performance of your healthcare practice. An automated workflow is a series of tasks that are linked together and can run on their own based on pre-established rules. In the healthcare industry, these tasks can include patient registration, appointment scheduling, billing, and claims processing, to name a few. According to a report by CAQH, the healthcare industry could save up to $25 billion annually through automation.
Why Opt for Medical Billing Automation?
The same report from CAQH found that medical practices would save an average of five minutes per electronic claim submission when leveraging a revenue cycle that incorporates automated processes. Considering that a single provider can see 20 patients per day, the five minutes can amount to more than eight hours, or one day’s worth of work, saved through workflow automation per provider. In a small five-provider practice, the team can gain back over 40 hours of time, which could be redirected towards enhancing patient care, preventing burnout, or growing the practice.
What Part of the Revenue Cycle Should I Automate?
Before you begin to automate, it's vital to understand your current processes and identify areas prone to errors, inefficiencies, or those which are labor-intensive. Typically, these areas include:
- Eligibility Verification: Manual eligibility checks can be cumbersome and error-prone whereas automated systems, such as pDemographics, can instantly verify patient demographics and coverage details, preventing claim denials.
- Claims Submission: Manual claim submissions are susceptible to human error. Practices can rely on automation to check claims for errors before submission, reducing denials and the associated rework.
- Payment Posting: Automatic posting of electronic remittances through integrations can expedite the revenue cycle by eliminating the manual task of copy-and-paste from one software into another.
- Patient Billing: Many practices rely on mailed letters for patient payments. An automated system can generate and send electronic patient statements immediately, speeding up collections.
How Do I Quickly Make My Billing Process More Efficient?
One of the best ways to improve efficiency within your practice is by partnering with a revenue cycle management (RCM) company that understands your goals. We discussed how to find the best RCM company for your practice in a previous blog post. A key indicator of an effective RCM partner is one that places an emphasis on using workflow automation to streamline the revenue cycle. By choosing the right RCM partner and working with them closely, your practice can enjoy reduced costs, increased revenue, and improved patient care.
How pMD® Can Help
At pMD®, our mission is to streamline and optimize the patient care episode and the revenue cycle. Through our advanced, end-to-end practice management and revenue cycle solutions, we can help practices consolidate vendors, reduce costs, streamline workflows, improve patient care and satisfaction, and collect their maximum reimbursement more quickly.
Not sure what a vendor could do to improve your behavioral health billing? Contact pMD® for a no-commitment financial impact analysis by our team of healthcare RCM experts free of charge!
To find out more about pMD's suite of products, which includes our charge capture and MIPS registry, billing services, telehealth, and secure communication software and services, please contact pMD.
Have questions?
We have answers!
