5 Proven Strategies to Improve Patient Experience & Revenue Cycle Management Efficiency

The recent Covid-19 pandemic has shown more uncertainty in healthcare facilities in terms of generating revenue and improving patient experience. However, the transitions in the healthcare industry towards cost-effective business models including the revenue cycle of medical practices have become more expensive and fragmented. It has been identified that the antiquated and traditional approaches to healthcare revenue cycle management can be challenging because of the drastic increase in consumer payments, payer reimbursement cuts, and regulatory changes. 

Providers, as always, must continue to focus on patient experience while balancing the need to keep the lights on by maximizing revenue. Improved patient care and a healthy revenue cycle need not be exclusive terms anymore. It is crucial to find the best ways to develop sustainable and strong healthcare revenue cycle management by focusing on the patient experience. This post has highlighted the 5 best ways to improve patient experience and improve the revenue cycle for the healthcare organization. 

How to Improve Revenue Cycle Efficiency & Patient Experience?

1. Improve the patient billing experience

If you want to build strength in the healthcare industry, it has been proven that you cannot rely on sporadic follow-up calls and patient statements. In the post-reform climate, where Healthcare providers are facing challenges because of the high deductible health plans, engaging patients financially can be vital.  It is your healthcare organization's responsibility that prior to starting the care process the patients understand the billing process and their payment options. Here is the list of how to improve the patient billing experience.

• Create unified patient statements, using plain language while translating the complex codes. 

• Discuss the patient's financial responsibility for pre-scheduled and high-dollar procedures. 

• Financial details like deductibles and copay associated with the care episodes

• Educate patients on the payment plans available

• Provide payment options based on the patient's convenience. The payment options may include cheque, internet banking, credit card, debit card, UPI, etc. 

• Create a collaborative process and a financial assistance policy to fulfill your patient's requirements.

2. Incorporate an Automated Solution

One of the effective ways to spend more time on the health care of patients is incorporating automation. The healthcare industry can not overcome the revenue challenges by simply updating legacy systems. It requires the development of new software to conquer revenue issues and solve inefficiencies in managing hospital budgets. By implementing a more accurate and automated solution, this can help your healthcare organization to optimize healthcare revenue cycle management.

Employee Productivity — You can expect an increase in employee productivity, improvement in customer service, and a reduction of human errors. For instance, online payment can help in payment tracking, improving the collection of payments, updating insurance data, and payment reporting.

Revenue Recovery — Your healthcare organization can easily overcome revenue challenges and improve patient care by using an automated solution. Experience time savings for administrative tasks, eliminate rework and reduce write-offs from missing information.

Overall, an automated solution can improve patient care and revenue cycle by automating mundane tasks, cutting unnecessary bureaucracy, and simplifying payment processes.

3. Emphasize a patient-centered approach

It has been identified that a patient-centered approach can increase the confidence and trust of the patient in the healthcare facility. However, you can improve the healthcare revenue cycle by adopting this approach. Research states that 49% of patients choose a healthcare service provider who provides clear information about the services and healthcare costs. A patient will be more likely to choose a service that offers modern data processing, payment, and billing approaches. Therefore, you can improve healthcare revenue by creating seamless and informative experiences for patients. 

4. Educate and train medical and administrative staff

Your healthcare organization can speed up the healthcare processes and avoid many mistakes or errors by simply communicating and collaborating between various departments. It has been seen that healthcare revenue cycle management faces challenges because of the lack of administrative and medical employee education and training. Focus on providing training to the staff to reduce the shuttling of patient data back and the risk of uneven patient experiences.

5. Update legacy software

Legacy software can be unreliable and outdated which impacts your ability to improve patient care and optimize your revenue cycle management. By utilizing solutions such as intelligent verification, you can rely on finding the most accurate data using real-time, real-world patient data.

Overall, improving the patient experience and revenue cycle efficiency can help your healthcare organization grow in the coming years.