Recent studies believe that to completely transform the patient experience in the healthcare industry and bring a long-lasting positive impact, Revenue Cycle Management services must be tweaked and changed.
Patients are end-consumers of all healthcare services, so the patient experience becomes an integral part of the healthcare industry. While hospitals and medical practices go out of their way to create a welcoming and fulfilling patient experience from the minute the patient steps in until discharge, the results are not always fruitful.
A survey on healthcare consumer experience published at the end of 2022 states that 60% of patients had an extremely negative experience with their healthcare provider between August and October.
With intense competition, the healthcare industry is under immense pressure to make their patients feel happy and satisfied with their service, apart from providing the proper care.
There are numerous ways to improve patient experience in the front end. However, would you agree if we tell you that improving Revenue Cycle Management services will affect the patient experience positively?
This may sound surprising, but many top hospitals and practices have already started integrating their RCM services to enhance the patient experience.
How does this work?
Revenue Cycle Management services affect every touchpoint patients have with the service provider. From when a patient calls to make an appointment to the final bill settlement, practices have a tremendous opportunity to improve their RCM services, create a lasting impression, and bring the consumers back to them every time.
Quintessence brings you four time-tested and proven ways to improve patient experience with RCM.
One of the main reasons that could contribute to delays and imperfections in the services rendered is a discontinuity between the practice’s backend and front-end processes.
Let’s consider this example. A patient calls for an appointment, and the front-end administrator fixes an appointment schedule. Now, an expert from the RCM team needs to take up the eligibility verification and prior authorization process.
These Revenue Cycle Management services need to be completed before the patient walks in for the appointment. When there is a discontinuity in this process, the patient may come in and realize they aren’t eligible to use their insurance coverage in that practice or may need to pay more out of their pockets than they assumed.
When the backend and frontend workflows are integrated and flow seamlessly one after another, this would help streamline the processes and ensure the patients have a pleasant and fuss-free experience.
Most practices these days have become digital-friendly. Appointments can be made, canceled, or rescheduled online, and telehealth services are included too.
However, the opportunity to offer high-end and practical tools and technology for consumers in the healthcare industry is very high and under-utilized.
Many of the Revenue Cycle Management services, including the collection of patient data, eligibility verification, and sending appointment and payment reminders, can be automated using the right technology and offered in a friendly and convenient UI.
By doing this, the patients feel in control and empowered and, as a result, enjoy visiting the practice repeatedly.
A vital point in this list of strategies to improve the patient experience by tweaking Revenue Cycle Management services is standardizing RCM.
How does this work?
There are several patient touchpoints in RCM, each requiring interacting or associating with the patients to get or process information.
Human beings, in general, feel calmer when they know the next steps or processes. Knowing what will happen next when a patient enters a practice and has been there before will help them stay prepared mentally.
This is the idea behind standardizing RCM. This is especially true for practices with multiple branches. When patients visit any of the branches of the hospital or practice, they should be able to expect and receive the same care, which happens when Revenue Cycle Management services are standardized.
One of the easiest ways to standardize RCM is to let a single third-party service provider handle RCM for all your locations or practices. This way, consistency will be an assumed factor and will help patients feel prepared and calmer during their visits.
In January 2021, CMS came up with the price transparency plan, and many practices have already started implementing it. As a practice, it would help patients when you are transparent about the service costs.
Practices can be transparent about pricing only when they have a tight and well-defined Revenue Cycle Management service process. Fine-tuning all steps, from eligibility verifications to coding and claims submission, will help practices understand a patient’s financial commitment even before the services are rendered.
Practices should start getting in touch with patients beforehand to discuss coverage details, possible out-of-pocket costs, payment modes, and flexible payment options, if available. Doing this will help consumers avoid the shock of huge bills and non-coverage issues after receiving treatment.
Most patients hesitate to visit a doctor because they are unsure of what their coverage allows. When the front-end processes focus on transparency and talk about patient financial responsibility, it reduces the burden and helps patients have a better experience visiting the practice.
Takeaways
While healthcare brands are taking initiatives to improve their front-end patient experience, they should also focus on tweaking their Revenue Cycle Management services to make an overall holistic difference in how patients feel before, during, and after treatment.
Quintessence is your perfect partner to handle end-to-end Revenue Cycle Management services, improve revenues, streamline finances, and, more importantly, better patient experience.
With over 100 years of combined work experience, our experts understand the business like the back of their hands and bring in exceptional changes that would transform your existing revenue cycle. Our AI-based AR-follow-up tool and ML-based coding tool together automate your reimbursements and coding and bring efficiency, speed, and precision to these processes.
All our clients have seen positive changes from day one of implementing our system. Do get in touch with us to know the Quintessence difference and how it could transform your practice.
