Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management
According to a new survey by Black Book, the consulting business is booming in healthcare revenue cycle management; and rightly so! Challenges that executives cited for updating RCM projects include: 77 percent have not begun a strategic plan for transforming RCM solutions for known deadlines because of lack of internal experts to do so and 80 percent of CIOs said they do not have the IT staff in-house to transform RCM end-to-end.
Read MoreDon’t be afraid of HIPAA & HITECH? Of course it’s easy to say that if you aren’t the person knee deep in interpreting the rules and regulations and building out the infrastructure of a solution. The recent Orbograph White Paper, “HIPAA/HITECH Compliance, Resiliency and Security” simplifies the concepts of following and complying with these rules. When you look at HIPAA and HITECH initially, it’s critical to start with a high level perspective. With that in mind, HIPAA is pretty much two primary rules!
Read MoreYou’re a healthcare payments professional and by now, you probably have an opinion on the topic of reassociation. You’ve seen the Orbograph white paper, How to Reassociate EFT/ACH Payments to ERAs in 2014, and see why the industry needs to make a move in this area. If you haven’t read it, now’s your chance! Or check out http://www.caqh.org/. There’s only 161 days left to prepare for implementation deadline for federally-mandated CAQH CORE EFT and ERA Operating Rules…
Read MoreA recent survey on ICD-10 indicates that one-third of the 500 physician practices interviewed have not started compliance work yet. October 2014 is the implementation deadline, but how much time is really needed? Key highlights of the survey include: thirty-six percent of respondents who have not started ICD-10 preparations believe there is plenty of time to prepare, 26 percent don’t have the time, staff or training resources to start; and 22 percent don’t know where to start planning…
Read MoreNo pun intended, but New Orleans + Orbograph Client Conference = “a hurricane of check and healthcare processing”! The Orbograph Hurricane began on Wednesday evening, April 10th, with a wonderful opening reception. Nearly 70 attendees filled the reception hall to interact and listen to a local New Orleans Jazz band. A classy and jazzy way to start!
Read MoreThird-party medical billing companies employ nearly 20,000 people nationwide and process more than 17 million claims per month, representing more than $18 billion per year, according to statistics provided by the Healthcare Billing & Management Association (HBMA), a trade association representing third-party medical billers.
Read MoreRunning a successful practice relies on getting reimbursed for services in a timely manner. After all, the best physician and staff can only operate while the bills are being paid. Coding and billing can be a time consuming function in any practice, but proper coding and timely submission are necessary. Often, healthcare practices find themselves inundated with claims denials that must be made up by either resubmitting the claim, passing the payment off to the patient or writing the charge off.
Read MoreOne of the most significant changes to the American healthcare system since Medicare and Medicaid was proposed is the change from ICD-9 coding to ICD-10 coding. The World Health Organization (WHO) detailed ICD-9 standards over thirty years ago, but that coding system has run its course and is unable to accommodate advances in medicine that require additional coding numbers.
Read MoreHealthcare providers have one of the most complex payment cycles. One would think that most would simply outsource the lockbox function to a service provider or financial institution (FI). Unfortunately, FI’s struggle in many ways to sell medical lockbox processing. But why? Many of the FI’s officers are not hunter sales people. They are account managers who farm a territory. Convincing a provider to outsource their entire operation, or switch from another is a major decision which involves a strong business case as well as long-term strategy. Account managers (AM) are used to visiting accounts, chatting about customer service and managing a relationship. They don’t have highly compensated sales programs which motivates the AM to have a strong, sometimes uncomfortable sales closing process.
Read MoreExceptional leadership and innovative solutions have improved patient care and risk management. Case management and interdepartmental IT integration have improved efficiency. Streamlining patient assessment and incorporating bedside admission technological are reducing patient stress levels. However, even with all of the positive adjustments in recent years, hospitals struggle to provide high-quality continuity of care without exhausting the operating budget.
Read More