As hospitals and health systems follow up with payers on claims, automation can create more efficiency, according to Shawn Yates, director of healthcare product management at Muncie, Ind.-based Ontario Systems.
Mr. Yates shared the following tip with Becker's Hospital Review.
"If you analyze your representatives' activity, you will find certain functions that inherently waste time. Imagine how much time is wasted manually navigating the payer's IVR [Interactive Voice Response], then waiting on hold to get a representative to check the status of a claim. What if you could eliminate that wasted time and only have your staff wait a couple minutes before a representative from the insurance company becomes available? This is possible — with the right technology, you can save 25 percent of your representatives' time each month. While this is only one function to consider, it's a big one. A 25 percent increase in productivity has a huge impact, allowing you to extend your resources and collect more revenue with less effort."
Read more about automation and the revenue cycle here.
If you would like to share your RCM best practices, please email Kelly Gooch at kgooch@beckershealthcare.com to be featured in the "RCM tip of the day" series.
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