When is it Time to Hire a Revenue Cycle Management Service?

Revenue cycle management (RCM) is crucial to any healthcare provider’s administration and financial management. This is the process used to track revenue, from the initial appointment of a new patient to the completion of their treatment and the final payment from their insurance provider. RCM is a tool that helps a practice analyze and identify areas for improvement and ultimately maximize their returns.

But the RCM process can be incredibly time-consuming and paperwork-heavy, so if your team is struggling to keep up with billing systems, you have too many denied claims, and you don’t have enough time to dedicate to Revenue Cycle Management, it may be time to outsource to a professional ophthalmology billing company.

When Should You Outsource Your Revenue Cycle Management? 

Here are some signs that may indicate you need to work with a professional ophthalmology billing company that offers Revenue Cycle Management:

1. High Denials Rate and Delayed Payments – If you are struggling with your reimbursements, this is a clear sign that there are problems with your revenue cycle. By outsourcing your RCM, you’ll benefit from using specialized billing software that makes your claims processes run more smoothly, with fewer denied claims and faster revenue collection.
2. Overwhelmed Front Desk – Ophthalmology billing is not an easy task. It requires your staff to know how to find and use the right codes and modifiers for successful claims, and there are thousands of codes to contend with! Streamlining your billing process eliminates the need for your staff to spend too much time on billing, improves compliance, and reduces human errors that lead to claims denials.
3. Not Enough Time for Patient Care – Freeing yourself from the burden of administrative duties like billing, denials management, and RCM tracking means doctors and staff have more time to spend with patients providing the best care. This leads to greater patient and staff satisfaction and gives you more time to attract new patients too.
4. Overdue Accounts Receivable – If a bill sits unpaid in accounts receivable for a long time, your staff may struggle to keep up with the billing and follow-up process. Don’t let your potential revenue languish in accounts receivable. You can avoid this by using a professional billing and revenue cycle management company that tackles these problems head-on.
5. High Staffing Costs – Many ophthalmology practices hire an in-house team to manage front desk operations, billing, collections, and denial management. This, however, means finding, training, and retaining the right staff. Outsourcing your revenue cycle management means you’ll have access to specialized software that is designed to manage your billing process, reducing your need for new hires.
6. No Detailed Analysis of Cash Flow – Every ophthalmologist needs a dedicated person to track, analyze, and make recommendations for the revenue cycle. When you outsource to Eye Care Billing Consultants, your Dedicated Account Manager will analyze your financial health, increase recovery on delinquent accounts, increase your receivables and your cash flow, find gaps in your practice revenue cycle, and walk you through monthly reporting of your performance. All of this helps your practice identify which areas need improvement.

Deciding to outsource any area of your business to a third party is a major decision. You want to be sure that the company you hire will be not only experts in their field, but also will help your practice see tangible improvements.

Eye Care Billing Consultants specialize in billing practices and revenue cycle management for ophthalmology practices. We work to help you improve your collections, reduce denials, and get paid the first time. If your practice is struggling with a high denial rate or your staff is struggling to analyze revenue flow, then outsourcing to a professional is an investment in your long-term financial future. Contact us today.