Simplifying the complex: Propel your revenue cycle with healthcare data visualization
Many healthcare providers operate on extremely thin margins. That makes an efficient revenue cycle process a top priority. Slowdowns or unexpected hiccups in the RCM process can lead to major organizational problems, such as not being able to invest in care or maybe even make payroll.
Too often, the lack of visibility into the revenue cycle leads to surprise cash flow shortfalls. But that doesn’t have to be the case. Healthcare providers, like all businesses, are awash in data. That valuable data is often buried in cumbersome spreadsheets that are time-consuming to create and difficult to share and decipher.
Consider healthcare data visualization: With the right data aggregated and presented in an easily readable and accessible format, the revenue cycle becomes more predictable and easier to manage.
Data visualization can help providers:
Eliminate denials
Every billing department knows deceasing denials is essential to maintaining the revenue cycle. Eliminating denials is difficult, however, without clear insight into the root causes. This is where data visualization comes into play. When providers are able to monitor denials in real time, they are able to catch problems faster and potentially save the organization from an unexpected cash flow shortfall at the end of the month.
Denials data becomes invaluable when it can be reviewed in real-time, at a glance. Organizations can see if new payer rules are leading previously clean claims to be denied. Or, they may be able to spot problems in documentation through the care cycle that negatively impact denials so those problems can be resolved.
Accelerate reimbursements
While reducing denials is often the focus of efforts to improve revenue cycle management, the ultimate goal of reducing denials is really about realizing quicker payments. Denials are just one piece of expediting the revenue cycle – data visualization can help organizations identify ways they can get paid faster.
Data such as first-pass approvals and denials are an obvious starting point for organizations looking to accelerate payments. Data can go deeper. While organizations often track how long it takes payers to settle a claim, they also can track how long it takes their staff to get a claim out the door. Sometimes preparing the claim takes just as long, or longer, than receiving a reimbursement from a payer. Understanding claims times both before and after they leave the billing office can allow organizations to set goals for shortening payment times with actionable insights into the touchpoints that are slowing claims from being sent to payers in the first place.
Improve RCM efficiency
A faster, more efficient revenue cycle enables more reliable revenue projections to prevent unexpected shortfalls in cash flow. Data visualization allows organizations to quickly spot changes or snags in the revenue cycle so they can course correct in real time, rather than searching for solutions following a sudden drop in revenue.
Healthcare data visualization tools also allow organizational leaders to share important revenue cycle data across all departments, regardless of staff location. The fact is, the revenue cycle begins with patient registration and ends with final payment posting. This is not the responsibility of a single employee, but rather a team effort across an entire department.
It’s important for staff to see the impact of their daily activities. Having a clear vision of how their performance aligns with corporate goals inspires productivity and the feeling that they are working for more than a paycheck.
Bolster your RCM with healthcare data visualization software
Every organization is awash with valuable data, but it means nothing if you can’t use it to improve your operations. The right intelligence allows providers to easily aggregate, visualize, and monitor the data to help them reduce denials, quicken payments, accelerate reimbursements, and simplify RCM processes.
Don’t wait to see what data can do for you. Discover our RCM Intelligence solution.
