Health systems and hospitals across the nation are faced with different revenue management challenges, some of which are caused by the rise in the transition to the value-based payment alternatives, consumerism, and high deductible health coverage plans.
Off late, it has pushed patients to become more involved in healthcare decision making. Better transparency into costs and performance has given the patients great insights hence they have become very choosy when they are shopping for their medical health care.
With many not able to afford their out-of-pocket insurance costs to pay off their account balances, many hospitals across the nation are seeing their bad debt rise.
To address this challenge, hospitals and health systems must stay on top of their patients’ wants and needs. With the shift to value-based care, patient treatment goes beyond clinical care to include factors such as the cleanliness of the facility, staff behavior, and the billing experience. This transition makes it vital for provider organizations to ensure patients are satisfied from admission to discharge and also after they leave the hospital.
Enhance & Expand Patient Experience
With the rise of consumerism in healthcare, patients are now expecting more retail-like experience from hospitals and health systems, and organizations are failing to adapt to this new environment and may see their finances suffer.
Although patient experience improvement touches every part of an organization, one important area of focus for hospitals and health systems should be medical billing.
Improvement in this area requires provider organizations to set expectations upfront so patients don’t get upset. By opening up communication and providing patients with price estimates before they receive care, hospitals and health systems can improve the patient experience and also likely to increase the likelihood of collecting payment.
How Leveraging Data Analytics Can Help?
The first important step to improving patient experience is gaining insights into patient behavior and preferences. To explore patient experience issues at a deeper level, many hospitals and health systems are using data analytics.
If you don’t have good analytics, you can’t predict behavior and you can’t improve the patient experience. Data analytics solutions can help hospitals and health systems increase revenue and get a leg up on competitors in their market. In the past, hospital revenue cycle problems were managed as they arose. Today, organizations can use data analytics to take steps to minimize or even avoid these issues.
Hospitals and health care systems can use data analytics to determine a patient’s tendency to pay. This will let the organization to determine if the patient is likely to pay their bill without additional follow up, if they need a reminder such as a phone call or letter, or if they’re likely to never pay their bill.
This information can be used to determine areas where they could improve the process, such as by providing more ways to pay, to help make the patient’s experience better, and have a positive impact on the organization’s finances.
Bottom Line
Healthcare systems and hospitals are facing a myriad of revenue challenges as the industry is now undergoing a major shift – shifting to value-based care. The key to navigating this transition is to take steps to improve the patient experience.
Boosting patient satisfaction requires organizations to create an integrated experience where patients don’t have the opportunity to get unhappy.
With almost 12 years of experience in healthcare revenue cycle management, this Revenue Cycle Specialist brings deep expertise in medical billing, claims optimization, and practice profitability. Shares industry-backed insights focused on improving collections, reducing denials, and driving operational excellence.
