Improve Your Medical Practice’s RCM with These Tips

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Improve Your Medical Practices RCM with These
Tips Are you wondering how to improve revenue
cycle management (RCM)? Youre not
alone. Managing revenue, billing, and insurance
processing are crucial because your practice
requires money to operate, but you might wonder
if you have the expertise or time you need to
attend to such matters. Doing a few things could
help you improve RCM and manage your practices
finances. Invest in technology One of the most
effective ways to improve your revenue cycle
management (RCM) is to invest in
technology. Investments could be in hardware.
Start by keeping your practices computers,
tablets, and other electronic devices updated.
For staff members who will be accessing your
records and systems outside the office, pay for
smartphones and other devices they could use
exclusively to connect with your office. Also
consider reimbursing them for software and
internet fees. Yes, hardware and internet access
can be expensive. But being able to access
information easily, quickly, and more safely
saves time and hassle, which could ultimately
save money. Another good technological
investment is software that helps you keep
patient electronic health records (EHRs) and
manage your practice. The best revenue cycle
management software is easy to integrate into
your office and easy to use by your staff. Train
and involve staff members Involved staff members
are productive (and happy) staff members. They
might not know about revenue cycle management
(RCM), but that doesnt mean they cant learn
about it. Is your medical practice thinking
about investing in electronic health records
(EHRs) or practice management software? Ask for
input from your
employees. They may have ideas on these systems,
such as which
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features you could implement to manage billing,
track payments, and handle revenue. For example,
your employees might have noticed a pattern among
people who dont show up for appointments or ones
that consistently pay their bills late.
Understanding these patterns could help your
staff members brainstorm for solutions to reach
patients with these behaviors. Once youve
purchased a new EHR or practice management
system, make sure your staff members know how to
use it. Consider holding group meetings where
employees could discuss the systems and
participate in software demos (demonstrations). I
f there are software updates or multiple
questions about the new systems, consider holding
additional meetings or tutorials. You could also
designate a few employees as superusers, people
who know the software well and are comfortable
teaching it to and assisting others. Improve
scheduling processes Teaching your patients
about your new systems and scheduling could also
help you manage revenue cycle management. Maybe
an employee you designated as your software
systems superuser could also field questions
from patients who are learning how to access the
clients part of the system. This employee could
be available in-person and digitally during
office hours to instruct patients and help them
solve any problems. Once your patients know how
to use your electronic systems for scheduling,
you could improve those processes. If they find
it easier to schedule appointments, they might be
more motivated to follow through and attend these
appointments. After finding it easier to
schedule such appointments and work with your
office in other respects, they also might be more
inclined to continue visiting your practice.
Satisfied patients translate into patients who
continue patronizing your office. They might
possibly recommend your practice to others,
actions that could help you build
revenue. Verify eligibility and
payment Electronic health record (EHR) and
practice management software systems could also
help you improve your RCM by helping patients
verify their
eligibility and payment processes.
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Dealing with insurance companies is a big part of
the many medical practices work. The right
software systems could make this work easier and
thus more efficient and profitable. You could
use these systems to determine if insurance
providers will cover services, and if so, how
much theyll cover. You could include information
in these systems about other coverage programs
patients may have, such as Medicare and
Medicaid. Since your systems store all this
information and make it accessible, you, your
staff members, and your patients could understand
how much each type of coverage will pay. This
knowledge might also help you make decisions
about what to do next. Manage claims One of
these future steps might be managing these
insurance claims. Claims are not a one-and-done
type of scenario. Working with insurance
companies usually involves taking multiple steps
as part of an ongoing process. Software systems,
trained staff members, and informed patients
could work together to manage insurance
claims. A software system could determine if a
service is eligible, a patient then receives this
service, and then your medical practice provides
this service. But that doesnt mean your medical
practice revenue cycle management work is
over. After youve made an insurance claim, you
need to track this claim to make sure your
practice and your patient have been reimbursed.
If the insurer only covered part of the claim,
youll need to document that, possibly send
additional bills to your patient, track these
bills, and collect and record any payment they
make. Did the insurance company deny the claim?
Is the patient questioning the claim? You need to
record these developments and take additional
actions, such as creating and sending appeals to
the insurance company. Working with insurance
companies means communicating with them and your
patients and recording these interactions. Using
software systems and good communication skills
could help you track these interactions and
achieve satisfactory medical and financial
results.
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Outsource billing and other work The above
scenarios show that RCMs and insurance
interactions are complicated, so you may need
additional assistance. Consider hiring outside
help. There are companies that offer revenue
cycle management assistance for medical
practices. During this assistance, professionals
who have experience with RCM procedures assist
medical practices who may not have this
experience. Or, even if they have experience,
practices may not have the time they need to
devote to billing, insurance claims processing,
revenue cycle improvement tasks, and other
finance-related matters. Your patients visit you
for assistance, so theres no shame in asking for
help yourself. In fact, if you need assistance
managing your revenue, your electronic health
records, or other aspects of your practice,
contact Eye Care Leaders. Well provide the
assistance you need to help your practice,
finances, patients, and yourself.