In an interactive session at Becker's 30th Annual Meeting: The Business & Operations of ASCs, two leaders from Zotec Partners — David Law, chief client officer, and Sarah Mountford, vice president of client relationships — led an engaging session on revenue cycle-focused strategies that address patient care and satisfaction challenges at ASCs.
Throughout the discussion, Mr. Law and Ms. Mountford emphasized the importance of making patients' financial experiences as seamless as possible. They noted the need for clear communication, efficient billing processes and the use of technology to enhance patient interactions. Key points included the necessity of prior authorizations, eligibility verification and the implementation of payment plans to reduce bad debt.
Further, the panelists shared the impact of legislative changes on medical billing and the necessity of providing a retail-like digital experience for patients. The session concluded with insights on leveraging technology for better patient engagement and satisfaction, including the use of email discovery, intelligent guarantor outreach and reputation management to improve Google reviews and net promoter scores.
Key takeaways:
1. ASCs must hone prior authorization processes to support revenue generation.
Considering widespread financial challenges, Mr. Law and Ms. Mountford highlighted the imperative for ASCs to have robust prior authorization processes. This includes ensuring the authorized procedure matches the one performed and billed, as well as proactively getting required authorizations — even when staff claim they are not needed.
"You've got to really have that front-end process to make sure your authorized procedure matches what the surgeon ended up doing in the OR. It's really, really critical, and I think you have to know the payers' policies better than they know them," Ms. Mountford said.
2. Comprehensive eligibility verification and estimates can provide peace of mind — for patients and providers.
The speakers stressed the importance of conducting thorough eligibility verification, including for both the physician and the ASC components of a patient's visit; it should be a seamless process, they said, that allows the ASC to make the appointment, perform an eligibility check, get an estimate and communicate it to the patient immediately.
From an experience standpoint, Mr. Law highlighted the value of providing patients with clear, upfront estimates of their financial responsibility.
"What patients owe is a big worry for them," Mr. Law said. "You can settle that ahead of time by letting that patient know what the estimate is for their responsibility and clear it up before they even arrive at the center." He added that this process should be equally straightforward for front desk staff, to ensure they're equipped to effectively communicate this information to patients.
3. A dynamic, omnichannel approach to patient financial engagement is becoming increasingly essential.
Communication and engagement preferences among patients vary greatly — something ASCs must not only consider but act on, particularly as consumerism in healthcare rises.
"Sixty percent of patients really want a retail-like digital experience from their healthcare providers," Ms. Mountford said. "Seventy-five percent won't pay their bill at all if they're confused by the process, and 90% say they won't come back if they have a negative billing or financial experience with a practice."
The speakers recommended ASCs adopt a flexible, omnichannel approach to engaging patients financially, rather than relying on a linear, one-size-fits-all method. This involves offering patients multiple communication and payment options tailored to their preferences in a dynamic way.
"Gone are the days where every patient got two statements and a phone call and enrolled to the collection agency," Mr. Law said. "You have to have a dynamic approach to hit each individual patient where they want to be met."
For optimal outcomes, these methodologies should be complemented with excellent customer service, as well as multiple options for patients to pay their medical bills.
"You've got to be able to have a compassionate financial approach for your patients. Just like you don't treat every patient the same clinically, we don't think you should treat every patient the same financially," Mr. Law added.
4. Reputation management and tracking satisfaction are key to driving loyalty and new business.
Mr. Law and Ms. Mountford highlighted the need for ASCs to actively manage their online reputation, as well. This can be as simple as sending patients a text message that encourages them to leave a Google review. The speakers also highlighted the value of tracking patient satisfaction metrics like net promoter scores.
With the text-based approach to prompt patient reviews, Mr. Law and Ms. Mountford noted partner ASCs have seen an 80% increase in reviews and progressed from one- to four-star ratings.
"Remember, 85% of patients look to Google to determine the next medical encounter," Mr. Law said.