Having a strong understanding of the revenue cycle management of a practice can be a big benefit for private practice physicians for a variety of reasons, according to a May 20 news release from the American Medical Association.
Here are five notes for physicians:
- An efficient revenue cycle allows practices to adapt to external forces more quickly as well as increase patient satisfaction.
- There are eight steps of revenue cycle management: Patient registration; Insurance verification; Patient check-in and check-out procedures; Medical billing and coding; Claim preparation and submission; Monitoring payer decisions of submitted claims; Preparing patient bills or statements; Managing payments and collections.
- Knowing the capabilities and drawbacks of your health IT software can help inform decisions to make the cycle more efficient.
- Making it a priority to submit "clean claims" can optimize the cycle.
- Working with staff to create best practices in order to avoid unresolved claim denials.