More than 1 in 5 Revenue Cycle Leaders outsource ambulatory services

A survey found that companies that outsource their revenue cycle management are generally very satisfied with the results.

According to one of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA).

That opinion polldone on behalf of XIFINmeasures the interest and opportunity to outsource outpatient RCM for more efficient processes, which has the potential to reduce administrative burden and improve outcomes.

Aside from the fact that more than one in five managers outsource some of their RCM, 12% of respondents would like to use this approach in the future. If this is the case, the survey found that organizations are generally very satisfied with the results.

To collect the data, 302 HFMA members received an online survey in 2021 with 21 questions, of which 157 submitted complete answers. Respondent hospital size varied from fewer than 100 employees (6%) to 10,000 or more employees (31%).

According to the responses, the top three business drivers driving the approach to outpatient RCM are patient experience, process optimization, and revenue generation.

The most challenging aspects of RCM, not currently handled by people, process, technology, or services, are denials and appeals management, prior approval, and payer relationships.

Analyzing the data, the survey authors find that respondents see a significant need for more efficient and effective RCM and reporting optimizations.

“Hospital teams are under pressure to effectively manage growing outpatient revenue and expense streams,” said Bill Voegeli, head of custom research at HFMA and president of Association Insights. “Many of today’s healthcare finance and RCM teams lack the time, information and/or human resources to fully understand the opportunities or implications of RCM automation beyond their Electronic Health Record (EHR).

“Our research with XIFIN validates the notion that healthcare finance professionals will benefit from staying current on ways to optimize the growing space of ambulatory RCM, and provides RCM leaders with insight into new ways to optimize.”