Billing and collections is a key aspect of an ASC's operational workflow, not only because it ensures the financial viability of a facility, but also because it plays an important role in the patient's overall experience.
"You want the tail-end, the billing, to leave an incredibly positive and long lasting impression on the patient," said Nader Samii, CEO of National Medical Billing Services, at the Becker's 16th Annual Future of Spine + The Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference, June 14-16, in Chicago. Kylie Kaczor, MSN-RN, vice president of clinical and regulatory affairs at National Medical, joined Mr. Samii for the discussion on improving billing and collections at ASCs.
Mr. Samii and Ms. Kaczor discussed various aspects of improving ASC billing. Here are three key considerations from their discussion:
1. Mr. Samii on setting up RCM to complement facility goals: "Set clear organizational goals. For example, do you want patients to have the best experience, grow patient volume and revenue and have a healthy revenue cycle? If so, what steps do you need to take to accomplish those goals? From an RCM standpoint, what do you need to do? As you go through your revenue cycle, set department goals for RCM that flow up from the individual to the department and ultimately to the facility to achieve your big picture objectives. Also, don't set [these goals] in a vacuum. Set them up with your team. They are on the ground, and they know what is needed. Get buy in from them."
2. Ms. Kaczor on billing and patient experience: "Billing is an important part of the patient experience and as such, it impacts patient satisfaction. A patient could have had a wonderful experience during their time at your facility and with the care they received, however, if they have a bad experience with their medical bills or their patient account post procedure, it can most definitely impact their overall view of their experience which can reflect poorly on patient satisfaction surveys. Relative to patient satisfaction, you want to think about things like the physical layout and design of your facility; is it warm and inviting to patients and families, but also, are you using technology to properly engage patients and are you leveraging that technology to improve your revenue cycle? Are you properly capturing patient demographics and insurance information? We know that errors at this stage of the revenue cycle have a waterfall effect throughout the remaining cycle and create significant delays and even denials. Is your front office staff trained in the use of technologies to aide in proper capture and to improve efficiencies? These are all considerations relative to the revenue cycle that can improve your patients' experience.
3. Mr. Samii on selecting metrics: "Zero in on metrics that really matter and not on ones that others think matter. Don't have too many metrics because it's too much and they all become irrelevant. Have leading indicators in conjunction with lagging indicators. Look at your team and players. We all have biases, but really look at their performance and what they have done. Try to find those diamonds in the rough. Start doing personality testing during your hiring process and see what traits they have. Important personality traits will differ by department, so hire by using those critical pieces of information."