Solely Cutting Costs No Cure for Hospital Finances

PITTSBURGH, May 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Amid coming health care reform, hospital administrators so focused on cutting costs often overlook the benefits that the better management of revenue cycle processes can have on their bottom lines, says Daniel Thiry, managing principal of Revenue Cycle Solutions, a health care financial consulting company.

"So much attention is paid to reducing costs these days that hospital CEOs and CFOs may be missing an opportunity to put their institutions on firmer footing," says Thiry. "A more disciplined approach to managing the patient intake, charge capture, code assignment and billing processes can have a dramatic impact in an industry where a mere 2-percent operating margin is the equivalent of a .300 batting average."

Revenue Cycle Solutions' recommendations for improving hospital revenue performance are featured in this month's edition of HFM, the magazine of the Healthcare Financial Management Association. http://www.hfma.org/Publications/hfm-Magazine/Archives/2011/May/Success-Under-Reform-Through-Revenue-Cycle-Excellence/

Thiry says it's not uncommon for hospitals to take 12 to 15 days after providing services to submit a patient's claim to their insurance company for processing.  "That's simply unacceptable. And when reform is in place, I can't fathom less-attentive hospitals will be able to survive."

That's why hospitals should act now to improve how they manage their revenues, says Mike Evans, chief operating officer of Revenue Cycle Solutions and a former hospital chief executive officer. "Just because we can't predict with 100 percent certainty what health care reform will look like doesn't lessen the obligation to manage aggressively the things hospitals can control today."

Evans says his firm has seen more than a 50-percent increase in business this year as hospitals strive to improve their business office processes before new government regulations take hold.

"Managing costs will always be important," Thiry says, "but a holistic approach to hospital business office operations is necessary in an industry where the landscape is continually changing."

About Revenue Cycle Solutions

Revenue Cycle Solutions, LLC, is a full-service health care financial consulting company, offering cost-effective and creative solutions for the capture, billing and collection of health care revenue. Since 2002, RCS has helped clients identify and implement process changes that have generated nearly $100 million in additional revenue.

http://www.revenuecyclesolutions.com/

SOURCE Revenue Cycle Solutions, LLC