8March 2019he patient experience has never received as much attention in healthcare as it has today. In a world where individuals are empowered with information--from review sites to social media networks--and a vast number of choices--primary care, urgent care, telemedicine, virtual visits, even house calls--it's no wonder healthcare executives pay close attention and invest big dollars to improve patient experience. While the "front end" tends to be more closely scrutinized, from check-in to waiting room times and actual care delivery, often overlooked are "backend" functions--especially billing. Yet, it allaffects whether a patient returns. The other obvious reason for scrutinizing collections is the sheer amount of that revenue and the cost of collecting it. Here is an example: in my organization, a large primary and specialty care medical group based in Austin, Texas,servingnearly a half a million people, patient collections account for 20percent of all income. Needless to say, it'sa revenue sourcewe cannot afford to ignore. However, it yields lower average revenue per patient since many are just the copay or deductible portion of an insured claim. The individual nature of these accounts makes them time and resource intensive to chase.By Ted Matthews, MBA, CPA, CGMA, CFO, Austin Regional ClinicDeveloping a focused collection strategy will reduce costs and maximize results, but only if you invest appropriatelyFor Success in Collections: Don't UnderinvestTIN MYOPINION
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