For years, people have been asking the question, “Am I living in the Matrix?” Many highly intelligent people have contemplated this question and have come away with no definitive answers.
When we draw an analogy between this existential dilemma and our experience of managing the revenue cycle of over 100 clients, the fundamental question revenue cycle leaders are facing is, “How badly do you want to change the status quo in revenue cycle management?”
The status quo in the revenue cycle is stress, anxiety, and worry over things like denied claims, ineffective A/R Management, declining reimbursements, and surging labor shortages – all of which can cripple cash flow and spell doom for your revenue cycle.
You have a choice!
The blue pill keeps you stuck in the enslaving ignorance of the status quo.
The red pill sets you free, allowing you to generate innovative ways to change the current landscape and move your revenue cycle to the next level.
As a revenue cycle leader, you face the following questions every day.
Will you let labor shortages cripple your revenue cycle?
What about denied claims?
Ineffective A/R management?
Do you want to address these questions with day-to-day process improvements, or are you ready to take a different route and finally change the status quo?
The choice is yours. Think of the blue pill and the red pill as having distinct pathways, i.e., you can make small-scale process improvements and fight back against the headwinds, or you can entirely change your strategy for the future and make sweeping, pervasive changes.
The blue pill – Remain within the status quo
As multiple headwinds destabilize your revenue cycle, the blue pill does not give you sustainable solutions. Whatever you are currently doing, continue to do that and try to do that well. Here are a few things you can do if you take the “blue” pill.
Improve the quality of reporting across the entire process chain
Extract the best out of your existing technology
Improve your current operations by identifying denials issues and addressing them ahead
Move to metrics-driven management
Quite clearly, there is not much transformation you can achieve.
The time is now for revenue cycle operations leaders to play bold.
While you can continue to be in the comfort zone, there is a limit to the transformation you can achieve. The survival of healthcare provider entities is anchored on the performance of their revenue cycle. The current headwinds clearly indicate that there is a need to fundamentally rethink the way you deliver revenue cycle processes.
COVID-19 left many healthcare organizations in a bad financial state, which has further accentuated with worsening labor crisis. The financial equation has flipped to the negative with reducing reimbursements, rising costs and lack of investments in technology and now threatens the very survival of healthcare organizations.
Access to wider labor markets, revenue cycle best practices, and technology at low cost seems a logical solution. Yet, for many revenue cycle operations leaders these strategies are not even in the consideration set. Changing the status quo requires the vision and operational execution capabilities to address the challenges, shortcomings, and missed opportunities that are holding revenue cycle leaders from achieving the business goals critical to their survival.
The red pill – Adopt to the new normal
Change, they say, is the only constant. So, why should your revenue cycle remain the same? Adopt holistic strategies to create the new normal for your revenue cycle.
Reduce Costs to Collect by adopting offshoring, automation, and process improvement
Apply process-specific benchmarks to improve yield.
Improve access to labor by adopting global sourcing and remote working
Improve revenue by adopting revenue integrity best practices
Shift focus to denial prevention by applying new-age analytics and arresting
Respond to rising consumerism in healthcare by using omnichannel patient contact technologies to improve the patient experience
Be like Neo, take the red pill, and stay in the wonderland, and we will walk with you as far as the rabbit hole goes.
Talk to one of our revenue cycle experts for a no-obligations strategic discussion.