Using Technology to Seize Revenue Opportunities

When specialty practices want to strengthen their balance sheets, they can either cut costs or increase revenue. Although pursuing both options is probably wise, finding opportunities to boost the flow of dollars into a practice can be a more positive and ultimately lucrative way of ensuring optimal financial performance. Yet, specialty physicians sometimes struggle to identify new revenue sources. The good news is that it may be easier than you think. By leveraging your electronic medical record (EMR) and practice management (PM) systems to enhance the reliability and consistency of the following key activities, an organization can make meaningful strides in increasing the amount of money coming into the practice.

Ensure appropriate coding.

Correctly documenting and coding the patient encounter is critical to receive full payment as well as avoid costly denials. When organizations upcode or downcode their claims, they can delay payment, receive less-than-complete reimbursement or not receive any payment at all if a denial cannot be resolved. Even if it can, denials management is a time-consuming exercise that can gobble up resources—negatively impacting the practice’s bottom line. However, by reviewing analytics-driven reports from the EMR, practices can begin to understand why denials are happening and focus on strategies to avoid identified root causes. Offering targeted provider and coder education can tighten the coding effort while simultaneously yielding more revenue.

Speedup patient payment.

As patients become increasingly responsible for larger portions of their healthcare bills, it is essential to have reliable processes for collecting patient payments. Sharing cost estimates before the patient visit can enable transparency and prompt more timely payment, especially if the practice sets the expectation that patients will pay a portion of their bill upfront.

Handy payment methods are another way to encourage swift payment. By using a practice management system that keeps credit cards securely on file, an organization can establish automatic payment arrangements that are convenient for both patients and the practice.

Increase patient volume.

There are several strategies for driving traffic into a practice. One is to reach out to existing patients who come to the facility each year for wellness checks and make them aware of additional services the practice could provide. An organization can also increase referrals from other physicians by making sure that clinical partners across the community have the information they need to consistently recommend the practice to their patients.

To accomplish both these tasks, organizations can use a marketing solution that’s integrated with the EMR and Practice Management solution. Through this tool, the practice can run reports about existing patients and referral sources and target communications to educate and retain current customers, all while expanding the number of new clients.

Growing revenue does not have to be complex. By taking advantage of key features within EMR and PM systems, a specialty practice can optimize performance. This will in turn enhance communications to draw more money in and lay the foundation for a stronger future.

Learn more about how Nextech can help you increase practice performance here.