Gaining support from the C-Suite is the first step in optimizing revenue cycle management systems, services, and resources. Revenue cycle leadership should prepare to align the strategic needs of the organization with revenue cycle goals and proposed changes. Gaining buy-in from the C-Suite requires information that illustrates why change is needed, and where gaps can be closed. Align the initial cost with the projected savings on a month-to-month basis and focus on presenting the benefit as well as a timeline for success.
Don’t think of it as a one-time investment, think of it as a solution to workflow.
Demonstrate what you’re doing today versus what you could do. This includes gains in efficiency, productivity, faster reimbursements, and greater alignment to workflow. Think of how the entire organization will be better equipped to deliver value, improve processes, and realize a fast ROI. Revenue cycle management is a complicated process, one that delays workflows. The claims denial process is a great illustration. More than 80% of the processes involved in claim denials are manual, paper-based steps that require human operations. Therefore, utilizing proven operational changes can lead to reductions in manual processes. Reducing redundant processes and associated technology costs that accompany the claims denial process can yield hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings for an organization. This makes it a winning investment for healthcare.
Align change management needs to people.
Simplify the graphs, cut the jargon. Executives have many decisions, problems, and projects in their pipeline. They don’t have time to decipher the meaning of a slide deck. Present data that shows why the status quo isn’t working for the people who use it. What’s the story behind the data points? One of the chief complaints we often hear is the “busywork” or “duplicate documentation” needed by staff, to complete everyday tasks. By illustrating the benefit to people, you’re better able to paint an accurate picture of the return on investment.
Recognizing that there must be a clearly defined and communicated strategy behind any change management effort, it may be necessary to dive into claim-level detail to uncover the process people go through on a daily basis, and how operational success can be improved with the addition of an automation strategy. Accurate documentation on a healthcare claim means dollars in the door, reduced denials, automatic corrections, and improvements to bottom line revenue targets.
Lead with insights, present the solution around bottom line results.
Facts matter. And nothing matters more to C-Suite executives than the hard data. Don’t waste time presenting generalities that have no relation to the subject at hand. Whether it is RPA, machine learning, AI, or automation solutions, C-level officers are taking it very seriously from the point of view of business impact. The biggest gain for a business is that it cuts down on manual entry and data complexity, and provides an easily understood ROI on productivity and revenue. Automation is a cost-cutting and efficiency-improving strategy. Implemented quickly, and with little disruption to the larger healthcare ecosystem, an RPA or AI solution offers an easy implementation timeframe, and a fast ROI.
According to HFMA, “One out of four executives in health systems and large hospitals suggest they are using advanced health IT, including RPA, to help increase economies of scale across revenue cycle operations.”
Present the solution as a strategic investment.
Embracing the goal of value is essential as healthcare organizations today are fighting an uphill battle to contain costs in a performance-based environment. The ability to identify tools that improve workflow, reduce duplication of time and effort, and improve revenue targets allows hospitals and health systems to operate more efficiently. Labor-intensive processes result in errors, create gaps in productivity, and delay reimbursements. When it comes to managing risk, hospitals and healthcare organizations face many challenges. Automating revenue cycle tasks with 100% accuracy allows the organization to re-allocate human resources to higher-touch areas.
When presenting value to the C-Suite, it’s important to look not only at features, but to dig deeper and look at the true return on value that the investment provides. Success stories like at ECHN, where “fifty percent of the operations we now use Boston WorkStation for were completed during the third shift. By adding Boston Workstation, we now only need two shifts.” Or in an Emergency Department where “being able to identify and load procedures done in the Emergency Room that were not being charged, saved one organization 10 hours per week and $2 million per year.” Another application “automated the upload of all ethnicity and racial reporting for the Massachusetts Casemix submission. They were able to “accurately update over 20,000 medical records, 6 months worth of manual data entry, in the course of a month, saving the organization $40,000.” There are many more success stories. Revenue cycle health is an important aspect of any health system, hospital, or provider organization. Point out the hard facts, look at the way the problem is solved, then #bridgethegaps to people, workflow, and revenue. It’s a winning strategy.
Why Boston Software Systems?
Though #HIMSS20 is cancelled due to coronavirus concerns, we’d love to speak with you about how to power your revenue cycle health with a fast ROI. Reach out to us, @bossoft. Call us at 866-653-5105, or let’s hop on a 30-minute call. We’re happy to help you present revenue cycle optimization to your C-Suite. It’s a valuable resource to decrease days in A/R and increase bottom line revenue.
With over 95% of our healthcare automation projects being completed in under 30 days, savings are right around the corner. #healthcareautomation #machinelearning #AI #ROI