When it comes to using healthcare BPO companies to handle your revenue cycle activities, there are a dozens of positive outcomes and advantages. Unfortunately, there are also many myths and misunderstandings when it comes to hiring a 3rd party revenue cycle vendor.
To properly avoid the snare of these myths, hospitals must first understand what they are and why they exist. Once you can see past the absurdities in these common misconceptions, you’ll easily glean the benefits of outsourcing your revenue cycle processes.
Dispelling the myths is important. Here are 7 myths often tied to outsourcing:
Myth #1: You'll see reimbursement reductions if you outsource.
This is a common misconception, but it's simply not true. Using a BPO company, you'll be more likely to see:
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Opportunities for growth and development
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A freeing-up of hospital resources
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More chances for patient care and retention
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Higher levels of reimbursement due to better efficiency
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Less work for stressed-out staff
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A better chance for forward movement in the revenue cycle
Myth #2: Healthcare BPO companies will cause an increase in expenses.
Again, not true. You can actually save a great deal by outsourcing many of the hospital's functions, and the revenue cycle is one of those functions. With a BPO company, your expenses will be:
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Lower overall
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Easier to track and manage
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More reasonable and in-line with the revenue collected
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A verifiable percentage of outgoing funds
Naturally, choosing what gets outsourced is very important. Some functions lend themselves to outsourcing more easily than others, because they do not deal directly with patient care. Still, the the top healthcare BPO companies will affect your success by improving your revenue cycle, so selecting the right solution is very important.
Myth #3: Revenue cycle solutions are complicated.
No. They aren't. If they were, they wouldn't be good solutions. To get the right revenue cycle solution, consider:
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Simple solutions are generally the best
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BPO companies can offer easy revenue cycle options
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Revenue cycle solutions should work from the beginning
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Solutions should be easy to maintain
Before selecting a revenue cycle solution for your hospital, take a careful look at what’s required in order to implement it. Once implementation has taken place, what will you need in order to maintain the solution? Looking at both the short and long term is the best way to gain understanding of the right choice.
Myth #4: Hiring additional staff in-house will fix the problem.
If anything, this will only add to the problem.
More people would:
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Ease the immediate burden, but raise the costs
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You need to TRAIN these people - which takes up time, money, and other resources
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Require more office space
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Have the potential for confusion and overlapping duties
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Require more effort from an already overworked management
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Pull resources that would be better utilized in other areas of your organization
Myth #5: You can't reduce expenses by outsourcing.
Outsourcing revenue cycle functions to a BPO company is often far less expensive than hiring more staff. Additionally, you get the following benefits:
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Less stress
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Increased collection rates
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No hiring or training
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Lower monitoring of staff
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A set cycle for revenue and financial obligations
Myth #6: You'll lose patients if you outsource.
With the right solution, most patients won't even know you've chosen a BPO company to handle your revenue cycle concerns. Patients are generally focused on getting a fair price for good treatment. When patients get those things without a lot of hassle:
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They return when they need more care
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They pay their bills more promptly
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They recommend your services to others
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They are more willing to work with you on billing concerns or other difficulties
Patient retention is important, and hospitals want to keep patients happy, but outsourcing isn't going to make those patients run away. Instead, having a good BPO company helping with your revenue cycle can make patients and hospital administrators more comfortable.
Myth #7: A revenue cycle solution isn't really a solution at all.
This is one of the biggest myths. Hospitals have themselves convinced that there aren't any viable solutions when it comes to revenue cycle management.
By working with a trusted BPO company, hospitals can find and use the best solutions for managing their revenue cycles--while increasing collections and lowering overhead costs for your organization. The right BPO company can give a hospital more credibility and make things easier for its administration, while keeping patients happy with the services and treatment they receive.
