8 Actionable Steps to Increase Your Practice Revenue by 10x with RCM

Are you looking to boost your medical practice revenue? Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) is a powerful tool that helps you to achieve your goals. It might sound complicated, but it is one of the best ways to increase your practice revenue by 10x. 

By making slight changes to the way you handle billing, using the right technology, and keeping a close eye on your data, you can see a massive increase in your revenue. 

This blog post shares the 8 actionable steps to increase your practice revenue by 10x with RCM. 

What is Revenue Cycle Management?

Revenue Cycle Management in Healthcare is the process of managing a practice’s whole financial operation, including medical billing and payment for services. 

This process in healthcare begins with a patient scheduling an appointment and finishes with the account balance being settled through the reconciliation of insurance or patient payments. 

The primary motivation for implementing Revenue Cycle Management in healthcare practice is for a variety of factors that practitioners are concerned about.

• Payments getting delayed, and increase in billing errors.
• Patients are unhappy with lacking billing experiences.
• The potential for compliance infractions and penalties grows.
• Financial losses increase when revenue streams dwindle.
• Operational inefficiencies result in increased overhead expenses.

Did you know? According to a study, the US loses $68 billion each year due to medical billing inaccuracies. That is why incorporating Revenue Cycle Management into healthcare is critical. 

It assists you in growing practice income by lowering claim denials, reducing days in accounts receivable, and improving collections.

Revenue Cycle Process in Healthcare (Step-By-Step)

Before going through the steps, it is required to understand the process of the Revenue Cycle in Healthcare. The revenue Cycle involves 8 step process:

1. Patient Registration

Start with the initial patient registration process. 

This step involves collecting patient demographics, insurance information, and financial responsibility, The staff will also verify the patient’s eligibility and benefits with their insurance provider.

2. Charge Capture

After a patient receives medical treatment, the healthcare provider records all the services provided accurately and completely. They ensure proper coding and documentation for billing purposes.

3. Claim Submission

Then the healthcare provider submits the claims to the patient’s insurance company or payer. 

This can be done electronically or via paper. The provider has to make sure to submit the claims on time and follow all the payer’s requirements.

4. Claim Follow-up 

Once the claims are submitted, the healthcare provider monitors their status. 

If any claims are unpaid, denied, or rejected, they follow up and resolve the issues. Sometimes, they may need to resubmit the claims.

5. Payment Posting 

When the healthcare provider receives payments from insurance companies and patients, they apply them to the appropriate accounts. They also make sure the payments match the billed amounts.

6. Denial Management

If any claims are denied, the healthcare provider reviews them and appeals the decision. They also look for patterns in the denials and come up with ways to prevent them in the future.

7. Patient Collections 

For any outstanding balances, the healthcare provider sends statements to the patients and follows up with them. They may offer payment plans or financial assistance to patients who need it.

8. Reporting and Analysis 

Finally, the healthcare provider creates financial reports and analyzes how well the revenue cycle is working. They look for areas where they can improve and make changes to streamline the process.

Related: 9 Strategies You Should Follow to Improve Revenue Cycle Management

8 Actionable Steps to Increase Practice Revenue With Revenue Cycle Management

1. Streamline the Initial Stage (Patient Registration and Scheduling)

The Initial stage of the revenue cycle is patient registration and scheduling. This process needs to be streamlined to enable a smooth flow of patient information and reduce the workload.

What you need to do – Implement a simple self-scheduling and pre-registration system for patients. This will improve convenience for patients ensure reduced wait times and improve data accuracy. Because patients are giving their information, so there is a low chance of accuracy.

Also, ensure that this scheduling system is fully integrated with your electronic health records system to enable a seamless flow of patient information between systems.

This way, the operational efficiency across different departments will improve and speed up the billing process.

2. Verifying Insurance Coverage Early

Providers should ensure verifying the insurance coverage and its benefits early before providing healthcare services to patients.

This early verification process will minimize the financial disruptions and enhance the billing process.

What you need to do – You don’t have to manually verify all the insurance coverages. Automating this verification process using tools to check as soon as the patient is scheduled for appointments or even during the pre-registration process.

This early approach helps to identify any potential insurance coverage issues before the medical services are provided, significantly helping to reduce the risk of claim denials.

3. Accurately Capture the Charges

If you want to get accurately reimbursed, the services you are provided need to be accurately captured, documented, and billed. This accuracy impacts the healthcare practices’ financial health maximizes the revenue by 10x and minimizes the lost charges due to inaccuracies.

What you need to do – Consider providing comprehensive training sessions to physicians and staff members who handle the billing. This training session should focus on educating on the importance of accuracy in documentation.

Also, you can invest in advanced charge-capturing software to automate and streamline the process. This way you can minimize human errors and ensure no medical services go unrecorded for billing.

4. Optimize Coding and Billing Process

Accurate coding is required to get reimbursements correctly and reduce the chances of claim denials and delays. Note: The Coding and Payer rules constantly change. 

So, it is good to stay up-to-date with the coding system to ensure financial stability.

What you need to do – You can employ a certified medical coder and invest in ongoing education to stay up-to-date with the updates on coding standards and payer rules.

5. Improve Claim Submission and Follow-up Efficiency

The faster your practice submits medical claims to the payers or insurance companies, the faster the healthcare practice can secure reimbursements. 

The claim denials are a huge hurdle for most, often delaying, denying, or diminishing the expected revenue.

Addressing these challenges can help you to streamline the practice revenue collection and reduce the financial loss.

What you need to do – Consider automating the claim submission process to reduce manual errors. Have a process to prompt physicians to complete their medical records promptly. So, that the claims can be submitted to the insurance companies or payers in the fastly.

A denial management system needs to be implemented to identify, appeal, and resolve denied claims. This approach helps to accelerate the resolution of issues and provides valuable insights into patterns that could prevent future denials.

6. Patient Financial Responsibility Education

Misunderstandings or a lack of knowledge about copays, deductibles, and out-of-pocket expenses can result in late payments and increased collection efforts. Practices may improve patient satisfaction while generating income in a more timely and efficient manner by proactively addressing this issue.

What you need to do: Provide patients with clear documentation that outlines their financial responsibilities, including co-pays, deductibles, and out-of-pocket expenses. Provide financial counseling to patients who require help in comprehending their insurance benefits or costs.

7. Utilize Data Analytics

Data analytics becomes a critical strategy of the revenue cycle. 

Practices can gain valuable insights into their operations, identify bottlenecks, and pinpoint opportunities for improvement by carefully monitoring and analyzing key revenue cycle metrics.

What you need to do: Utilize data analytics tools to monitor and analyze revenue cycle metrics such as claim denial rates, time payment, and patient collection rates. Use this data to identify areas of improvement and track the impact of implemented changes.

8. Patient Payment Process

Healthcare practices and providers must leverage ways to make payments easier for patients as their responsibility for healthcare costs continues to rise. 

Make the payment process as convenient as possible. This way, it encourages them to timely settlements which leads to improved cash flow and reduces the number of uncollected revenue.

What you need to do: Offer multiple payment options for patients including online portals, mobile payments, and flexible payment plans, to make it easier for patients to settle their medical bills.

Related: The Ultimate Guide for Independent Practices to Master Revenue Cycle Management

Vozo Revenue Cycle Management Service to Increase Practice Revenue

At Vozo, we understand your struggle in navigating through all the revenue cycle processes such as regulations, medical coding, and reimbursements. 

That’s why we bring the best cutting-edge service to optimize your revenue cycle management from start to finish. Here’s how Vozo can help you to transform your practice’s financial performance.

• Automated tools for error-free coding and faster reimbursements
• User-friendly billing to keep patients satisfied and payments flowing
• Robust data security and compliance protocols to protect your practice
• Detailed reporting and analytics for smarter business decisions
• Solutions that grow alongside your evolving needs

With Vozo RCM service, you can reduce the headaches associated with revenue cycle management and focus on what matters the most – quality patient healthcare delivery.

“Partner with Vozo RCM Service and unlock the full potential of your healthcare practice and maximize its revenue”.