30%, around 75 million US population belong to the 40+ age group (Born in 1946 to 1964, Baby Boomer group). With the Corona Virus outbreak in 2019 and the spread of the Omicron Virus, healthcare for Baby Boomers has moved from a hospital to the home. They opt to stay at home and get diagnosis to cure online. Therefore, this outbreak have also brought changes to healthcare revenue cycle management.
The following are the major trends that are putting impact on healthcare revenue cycle management:
Crisis as a catalyst
The outbreak of Covid-19 and the spread of the Omicron Virus have changed every business’s scenario globally. The process of digitalization and transformation has got momentum. In other words, the age of complete automation has started.
The healthcare industry has also gone through important changes along with other businesses. Due to repeated lockdowns, the methods and means of diagnosis and cure have been changed. The changed environmental scenario has introduced new practices like telehealthcare, dependency on virtual reality, use of software, etc. As a result, these crises have sparked innovative ideas and new technologies in the healthcare sector. These global trends have also affected the Revenue Cycles of healthcare providers.
Remote Diagnosis, Telehealthcare
The health care industry is a percipient industry that adopts changes fast and frequently. The present trends of remote diagnosis and telehealthcare have affected the financial performance of healthcare providers.
Telehealthcare is converted into a billion-dollar industry. The center for Medicare and Medicaid has included the fee of the telehealthcare providers into their schedules. The best way for these service providers to increase their financial flows would be to adopt AI-enabled software.
Rise of Mental and Behavioral Clinics
Before Corona Virus Pandemic, 19% of US adults experienced mental health issues. During the era of lockdowns and the spread of continuous waves of the coronavirus, suicide among youth has increased to 15%. The need for online mental health care and Behavioral clinics has also increased. The present scenario has also given rise to SaaS (Software as a service) based revenue cycle platforms, especially in the Mental and Behavioral health care sector.
The Emergence of Medical Health Care Rules
Medicaid has approved laws for monitoring working hours and the health habits of Medicaid patients. Strict guidelines have been introduced to prohibit the chance of data leakage. Collection and denial teams should be made aware of Medicare guidelines. Accordingly, it is necessary for billing companies and health care professionals to switch to automated, AI-enabled tools and programs.
Empowering Health Care Providers
Health care wearable devices have introduced to record the health of patients. These devices are replacing real-time interaction between health care professionals and patients. These devices are also helpful in eliminating human errors associated with fatigue or forgetfulness.
Consumer-Oriented AI Tools
The health care industry is consumer-oriented. With the changing world, patients now need accurate billing with no ambiguities. So, as a healthcare professional, you need AI tools for accuracy in billing and record-keeping. Additionally, revenue cycles need to be designed patient-friendly with flexible payment plans.
Increase in Productivity Tools
The current environment suggests the maximum time to stay at home. Medical practitioners prefer to use record-keeping software and hire remote staff to look after their finances. Investment in workflow automation and productivity measurement tools is a prerequisite for better RCM.
Automation in Revenue Cycles
AI tools are transforming the healthcare industry rapidly. This change has given rise to the need for timeless and office-less access to medical records. EHR platforms are helpful for both health care providers and patients to view and manage medical records.
Relevance of Analytics
EHR platforms may help eliminate errors, identify root causes of problems, automate the revenue workforce, and identify the training needs. The analytical insights are helpful for better decision-making. Custom Reports like Charges Payment ratios, Revenue forecasts, denial insights, and predictive analytics available in MediFusion have become a tool to improve the effectiveness of the RCM teams.
Least Labor Utilization
The two years of Covid-19 spread have created a shortage of skilled labor. With upskilling or reskilling of labor, the least workforce and more AI technology are the need of the hour. Investment in digital healthcare revenue cycle management tools has become a priority to drive effectiveness and efficiency.
Tech-enabled RCM Service Providers
Automated platforms like MediFusion can provide error-free hospital revenue cycle management and practice management to doctors. In addition, it provides computerized assisted coding services (CAC). The CAC is the best tool to aid healthcare professionals, giving you freedom from record-keeping and claims management.
Outsourcing
Hiring or managing in-house financial experts is difficult and time-consuming for medical practitioners or hospitals. The pandemic of Covid-19 has added to this difficulty. Outsourcing a company following strict HIPAA rules like BellMedEx is an excellent solution to this problem.
Financial Activity in RCM
Tech-enabled medical billing service providers are a helping hand in increasing the financial activity of health care providers. They are also helpful in providing errorless reports that reduce the denial case.
Conclusion
The use of technology is transforming new possibilities in the future of Electronic Health Records. Technology has improved healthcare revenue cycle management and claims processing for doctors.
To fulfill their core duty of providing health care, diagnosis, medication, and cure, healthcare professionals should adopt the transformed systems.
The industry stakeholders like private nursing staff and healthcare providers have to adopt programs that can comply with the present day changing situations of the industry. These changes can have an impact on revenue cycles for health care providers. Switching to an excellent AI-Enabled service provider like BellMedEx can be an excellent choice for healthcare revenue cycle management to ease financial workflows.
