Do you work in the finance office of a medical practice? Perhaps you are an accountant for a large hospital or maybe you are a C-level executive that makes financial decisions on behalf of a large medial group. No matter what your financial position might be, it is likely that you are always on the look out for how to make your processes more efficient and beneficial both for your employees and your patients. One way to do this is to utilize specialized software. Below are three examples of this software that may be able to help your organization right away:
Medical Claims Software – If your office is not already using some sort of healthcare claims and processing software then you are probably spending a lot more time than you need to on items like healthcare provider submitting forms, and following up on claims with health insurance companies in order to receive payment. These can be time consuming and complex processes that no one should have to do entirely on their own. Do a bit of research on the outstanding types of healthcare claims and processing services that exists for your organization and propose implementing one soon. Your employees will still be thanking you a year from now!
Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) – What takes the most time in your medical front office? The typical answer is usually patient check-in, insurance validation, matching patients with claims, and attempting to collect past due payments. With medical rcm systems this can all be handled with a few clicks, giving your employees more time to focus on customer care and other tasks. Studies show that 60 percent of the amount owed by patients across America is never collected; much of that is due to the fact that many offices simply do not have the time to devote to it. Using medical rcm systems can free up some time so that you can build a robust credit and collections team.
Billing Systems – Research tells us that by the year 2030, six out of ten Baby Boomers will be dealing with a chronic condition. What that means for you as the manager of a medical finance department is that by that time, your billing processes and system need to be in tip top shape and the employees using them need to be sharp and knowledgeable. One way to get that project started now is to begin looking for new billing systems that match your organizational needs. For instance, with so many customers preferring email to telephone calls in this day in age, does your billing system allow users to send emails to patients with the click of a button or does it require them to use multiple applications?
According to the financial advisement service of Kaufman Hall, hospitals and healthcare systems need to cut costs by up to 30 percent in the next five years in order to remain competitive. That is an incredibly large cut to make in such a short amount of time. When you are attempting to make cuts like these, be sure to examine your processes, procedures, and systems. Perhaps you can cut costs by investing in a medical rcm system or even a billing system that more adequately addresses your strategic goals. Even small changes like this can go a long way financially.
