CORE
"TO SEE WHAT IS IN FRONT OF ONE'S NOSE
NEEDS A CONSTANT STRUGGLE," ORWELL
PROCL AIMED. MEDICAL PRACTICES' HANDLING
OF FINANCES IS NOT EXEMPT FROM THE PERILS
OF FAMILIARIT Y™BRED CONTEMPT.
RECOMMITTING TO THE fundamentals of revenue cycle man-
agement (RCM) can enhance your practice's fi nancial state.
Becker's Hospital CFO o€ ers a few suggestions:
The basics have not gone anywhere.
Verifying information such as patients' addresses and insur-
ance coverage speeds the accurate processing of payments, Ralph
Catalano, Senior Vice President of Operations for CareCloud,
an RCM vendor, told the e-newsletter. Making sure you have
preauthorization for services is a lso vita l, particularly for
specialty practices.
Regular reporting heads o• problems.
Transparent monthly fi nancial reports allow practice leaders
to review denials or coding issues and ensure any vendor that
provides RCM services is held accountable.
Well-trained front-desk sta• are key.
The Medical Group Management Association undertook a
study to determine the cost of billing patients for co-pays after
they leave the o¨ ce. Factoring in labor such as generating and
mailing a bill, entering the charge, and performing any neces-
sary follow-up — including collection e€ orts — the total came
to about $8 per bill. Avoiding those costs means ensuring sta€
collect co-pays at the time of service.
"A practice shouldn't look at it like people at the front desk
are interchangeable parts," Catalano says. "They're ... really
important to the fi nancial well-being of the practice." ■
Rev Up Your Revenue Cycle Management
BY STEVE BARRETT
Learn Why Hundreds Of
Healthcare Organizations
TRUST CBIZ To Meet
Their
Needs
Tell Us How We Can Assist Your Organization
FRED LUECKE | Healthcare Practice Leader
330.670.7223
| fluecke@cbiz.com
www.cbiz.com/healthcareorganizations
Consulting | Business Strategy | Accounting & Tax |
Mergers & Acquisitions
| Transaction Advisory
M D N E W S .C O M /// M D N E W S C L E V E L A N D /A K R O N / C A N T O N
2 017 2 7
