What should hospitals and health systems consider when deciding to outsource the revenue cycle processes?
Kanner Tillman, CFO, Sherman Oaks (Calif.) Hospital & Encino Hospital Medical Center: I look at two factors when considering an outsourced RCM. First, turnaround time in dealing with payers all other stakeholders must be as good as or better than the status quo. Second is the availability of web-based data inquiry/analysis and reporting capabilities. A robust RCM program should include more than canned reports and limited or no ad hoc report writing capabilities. Vendor's references and current users can give you some feedback on the first factor but the second one needs to [be] tested hands-on, so I believe a trial period is always wise.
If you would like to share your RCM best practices, please email Brooke Murphy at bmurphy@beckershealthcare.com to be featured in the "RCM tip of the day" series.