The Revenue Cycle Management industry is going through a phase of intensive growth, and only teams that can adapt to this momentum can survive.
Apart from the challenges that the Covid-19 situation has bought about, the medical billing and coding companies globally have to handle increased client demands, narrowed profit margins, and the pressure to invest in the latest tech upgrades.
According to experts, here are some of the RCM trends that are going to make an impact in 2022.
Artificial Intelligence will lead the way
Just like how AI is making waves in other industries, it will also significantly impact the medical billing and coding industry. However, veterans in the industry feel that this trend will be here to stay. Hence, if you haven’t invested in AI, it is time to think about it!
Many leading RCM service providers are already using Artificial Intelligence to handle a large part of their RCM processes.
Take, for instance, our top-rated Machine Learning-based tool, Reimburssence. The tool has revolutionized our reimbursement process, and it learns from past reports and takes perfect claim decisions every single time. As a result, good touches increase, and the time to handle claims decreases drastically.
Full Automation of Medical Coding
How would you like to work with a coder who has memorized millions of code charts and can quickly provide coding suggestions, edits, and modify problematic lines, and meet all your compliance requirements?
Sound unrealistic, doesn’t it? A human coder can do only so much in the bandwidth available, and that is why coding automation is a positive trend that needs to be welcomed.
Again, this is technology working at its best. Many medical billing and coding companies will have to invest in such coding tools to improve their accuracy and speed and match the productivity levels of their competitors.
Have you checked out our computer assisted coding tool, Codessence? It has helped most of our clients scale up and improve their efficiencies with minimal effort.
Performance Analytics will be critical to businesses
Research says that the average denials rate has increased by 20% since 2020. According to the US Department of Labor, one in every seven medical claims is rejected. Performance Analytics is not going to be a choice anymore. It is going to be a critical need for medical billing and coding companies in the future.
Companies will have to analyze their performance regularly, establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and take corrective action before problems blow up.
RCM process outsourcing will become very normal
The habit of involving an offshore RCM partner will become very typical in 2022 and the years forward. Like how other BPO’s and KPO’s have streamlined their processes and are providing efficient, cost-efficient offshore services, offshore RCM companies will become very valuable to RCM companies.
Medical billing and coding companies can achieve more and save money with such efficient partners.
Contingency-fee models over fixed-fee models
As a client, would you want to pay for the errors and delays of your RCM service provider? A lot of clients have started asking this question.
A fixed-fee model is one where the medical billing and coding companies pay a fixed price to the service partner. Despite how much value the that partner adds to the company, this fee will not change.
However, a contingency model is slightly different. Here, you pay only when the service partner delivers what is promised. This way, the RCM service providers will be pressured to meet SLAs, and the clients can rest assured they don’t have to pay for subpar services.
Quintessence is one such RCM service provider that has already adapted to this trend successfully.
Telemedicine is the future
Thanks to the COVID pandemic, telemedicine has finally kicked off in a big way everywhere in the world. Did you know that only 11% of consumers used telemedicine in 2019, and this number has risen to 46% post-COVID in the United States?
Interestingly, many patients have mentioned that they will prefer telemedicine to physical hospital visits from now on.
This means the medical billing and coding companies have to be ready to adapt to this change. Rules change when it comes to this new mode of consultation, and you will need to prep your team about how claims need to be handled and processed without putting your clients at a disadvantage.
New consumer collection laws will change collection practices
The economic crisis right now is real, and the worst thing healthcare organizations can do is add to the patient burden by springing surprise bills. Lawmakers in the United States are considering changes in the collection laws, and this means the RCM service providers have to be on their toes for the next few years, looking out for changes and adhering to the current laws.
It is of the opinion that these lawmakers want to bring a permanent change in the way patients are billed and claims are collected and this being on the run change it is important to ensure that Medical Billing and coding companies are up-to date.
While the RCM service industry has always been adaptable and flexible to changes, nothing has shaken its foundation like the current pandemic. 2022 hopes to bring a permanent solution to the deadly virus and, as a result, streamline and normalize billing and collections processes. Until that happens, medical billing and coding companies need to be prepared to adapt to the new trends, rise up to challenges, and be in a state of constant learning and unlearning. Quintessence has left no stone unturned when it comes to being on top of the latest tech and trends. We aim our business approach to match the industry’s requirements so that our clients get the best out of experience as well the expertise on the latest trends. Give us a quick call to learn more on how Quintessence offers scalability strategies for our clients.
Source: https://insightalpha.com/news_test.php?cid=81&sid=1&nid=513
