For Rapid City, S.D.-based Monument Health, the most significant near-term gains from AI aren’t at the bedside. They’re in the back office.
“We’re really exploring what’s possible in the back office. It’s not necessarily something that is exciting for patients, but if your bill is more accurate in the first place and if we as a health system are able to bring dollars in quicker and more accurately, then that certainly makes our CFO happy,” said Patrick Woodard, MD, chief information officer of Monument Health during an episode of the “Becker’s Healthcare Podcast.”
Monument is currently deploying AI tools on both sides of its revenue cycle. On the inpatient side, the health system is using an AI-based technology that surfaces potential diagnoses for hospitalist teams. On the outpatient side, an AI coding tool is about to go live with an ambitious target.
“We’re optimistic that we can get above 70% of our outpatient claims fully automated. The vendor claims a little bit more, but I think we’re taking a little bit more realistic approach,” Dr. Woodard said.
As health systems across the industry grapple with growing payer-side AI pressure in revenue cycle operations, Monument is building its automation strategy around what it can credibly deliver.
“If we’re kind of feeding the low-hanging fruit to a computer and letting our humans do the more complex things, then that really will help us bring in revenue faster, but also provide a little bit more of a human touch in the other areas where there is more complexity or people need help answering questions about their bill, those types of things,” he said.
The rationale connects directly to Monument’s geographic constraints. Operating in a region with a limited labor pool, the health system cannot approach revenue cycle staffing the way a larger urban system might.
“We do want to be mindful that our staff are focused on the right things, that patients are able to get human answers to human questions when they come about. And so from that perspective, freeing up people to be able to do more meaningful work is really how we view these AI enabling technologies,” Dr. Woodard said.
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