Revenue cycle management begins with the patient appointment and doesn't end until every last penny is collected, said former Miami-based Gastro Health CEO Alex Fernandez, MBA, CMPE.
Mr. Fernandez shared two revenue cycle management strategies in the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy's Video Tip of the Week.
1. Look at the whole spectrum of service as the revenue cycle management process.
"Revenue cycle management should start out with your receptionist and collecting as much information as you can from the patient — including name, address and all the demographics — and insurance information," Mr. Fernandez said. "You should be getting that insurance information in order to provide the adequate information for the claim to be paid on a clean basis on the first pass."
2. Adopt the perspective of getting paid every single penny you're owed.
"When it comes to revenue cycle management, you want to manage your key performance indicators," Mr. Fernandez said. "Are you looking at reports? Do you know what your days in ARs are? Do you know how much money you're collecting?
He advises keeping tabs on those reports on a monthly basis, weekly basis, quarterly basis or even yearly basis and tracking total revenue, RVUs, charges and days in AR.
If you would like to share a coding & billing tip to be featured in our "tip of the day" series, please email Angie Stewart at astewart@beckershealthcare.com.