We are back from the HFMA’s bustling annual conference in Las Vegas. We are happy to report that many of the busiest organizations at the conference were RCM companies, including some of our partners, CarePayment, Convergent, HBCS and Sutherland Healthcare.
That’s because, in their quest for improving the patient experience, more healthcare providers are outsourcing the revenue cycle function to best-in-class vendors who can deliver technology and sophisticated tools to help them keep pace with industry trends.
Some of those trends highlighted at ANI that are impacting providers and those that support them include:
- Consumerism, innovation and the mandate to reduce the cost of care, according to HFMA President and CEO Joseph J. Fifer.
- The need for and ways for health systems to go after every dollar owed them, whether from payers or patients, was discussed by Derrick Walker, senior director at Optum Advisory Services.
- Doing a better job of discussing with patients their ability to pay, said Orly Avitzur, MD, medical director for Consumer Reports.
All of these trends call for addressing and improving the patient experience during the revenue cycle, not just clinical care. And more personalized patient communications and payment processes are a key tool for boosting the overall patient financial engagement.
With a customer communications management application, RCM companies can offer the needed flexibility and customization when creating, managing, and executing print and digital patient communications on behalf of their provider clients. Online payment systems also enable RCM companies to create branded payment portals for providers and offer omnichannel payment methods, all of which streamline and accelerate the billing-to-payment process.
After years of talking about improving the patient experience, it seems as if the entire industry has gotten the message that doing so is vitally important to the future of healthcare. So, now it’s time to see if we can all execute! For more information on this topic, check out our white paper, The Vital Role of Financial Communications in the Patient Journey.
About the Author
Rich leads Nordis Technologies’ sales and client relations teams and is responsible for revenue growth and client retention. He’s been integral to the company’s fast growth, doubling sales since 2010, and playing a key role in developing new products including ExpressoPay, ExpressoVote and ExpressoArchive. An expert in communications management, financial engagement, production execution and cost optimization, Rich uses his experience to assist customers dramatically improve their communications and payments operations and achieve key objectives. He is a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association.
Richard O’Rourke
Senior Vice President – Sales & Client Relations
