Challenges in the healthcare industry existed before a global pandemic, but certain obstacles have only increased as providers deal with the aftereffects. With record inflation, supply chain issues, and trouble hiring and retaining staff, it’s no wonder HME and infusion pharmacy providers are looking to outsource their revenue cycle management (RCM) in 2023 and beyond.
Demand for HME is up, but supply is waning and providers are backlogged. Does this seem familiar? If you’re looking for ways to reduce labor costs while simultaneously handling an increase in patient volume, you’re not alone. This is where having the right RCM outsourcing partner can make a difference. It’s common for providers who are new to the solution to have questions, so we’ve answered some of them below.
How does outsourcing affect my staff?
Smaller Team
From employee burnout to high turnover, your in-house billing team might seem like a revolving door. When you outsource a portion of your RCM work, you are able to manage a smaller team and keep them better engaged and less overwhelmed.
Seamless Extension
If you only need an outsourced team for certain billing processes, a strong RCM partner should be able to seamlessly become an extension of your team and work with your current staff on hand. Outsourcing could simply be a chance to help relieve your team of the workload. Your RCM partner can speed up your intake and other processes that may need help getting on track. If you are looking to outsource your entire back office, there are options for that as well. For example, Prochant offers Focused Solutions and an End-to-End RCM solution to help providers in whatever ways they need.
Every RCM vendor is different. You may have a patient-pay vendor who manages your patient payment portal and an RCM vendor concentrated specifically on your insurance payers. Prochant remains incredibly flexible to meet the needs of providers we work with. If your company is small, it’s common to grow with your RCM partner instead of having everything change all at once.
Alleviates Training
Not only can outsourcing be a way to relieve your team from doing certain processes, it also alleviates your need to onboard and train new staff. Working with an RCM partner, new hires are trained faster than those in an in-house team, because revenue cycle management is your partner’s sole focus.
Instead of spending time on training new staff or putting out accidental fires, you can focus on what matters: your patients. Save more time for business and improve your DSO, 90+ A/R, and more at the same rate with a partner who can turn around your front and back office.
What about data security?
It’s 2023, and information security is a hotter topic than ever before. With major data breaches happening daily for even multi-billion dollar enterprises, providers should be concerned about data security. Luckily, there are trusted RCM partners out there to help.
When it comes to outsourcing, this is why we say finding a trusted RCM partner is important. When evaluating which vendor to go with, narrow your choices down to the ones who can demonstrate they have the correct procedures in place. Unfortunately, any company can say they are “HIPAA certified.” Look for partners who have a formal HIPAA certification. The major ones who have gone through the certification process and demonstrated compliance with rigid security protocols are HITRUST and ISO 27001.
In this new age of technology, tightening up data security is a never-ending process. Organizations with these formal HIPAA certifications work hard to maintain certification every year while keeping up with the evolution of cyber threats. To give providers an idea of how difficult it can be to obtain this certification, to date, Prochant is the only RCM partner for HME that has achieved HITRUST certification. The organizations we work with take their data security seriously, and so do we.
Want to learn more about outsourcing in 2023? Prochant’s Chief Revenue Officer, Joey Graham, recently dived deeper into this topic for HomeCare. Subscribe to HomeCare for the full interview in their February issue.
To learn more about Prochant or ask our experts questions regarding our services, get the conversation started here.
Prochant has a proven track record of helping HME and pharmacy providers meet their financial goals. Our scalable solutions, years of experience, and advanced technology provide best-in-class results to the healthcare community. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, our client base includes national pharmacy and HME providers and health systems.