One major way to improve your healthcare facility’s revenue cycle and free up extra money for your budget is to identity and then eliminate backlog. Here are 5 helpful tips for identifying and eliminating backlogged accounts in your healthcare facility.

1. Look for bills that never got sent.

When looking to identify your healthcare facility’s backlog, a great place to start is by looking for bills that never got sent out in the first place. To find these unsent bills, consider checking your “billing editor queues and medicare return to provider reports.”

2. Implement strategies to improve your facility’s claim denial rates. 

Claim denials are a huge cause of backlog and can have quite a negative impact on your healthcare facility’s revenue, cash flow, and overall operational efforts. In fact, even improving your claim denial rates by just a “fraction of a percent” will not only help eliminate backlog, but it will dramatically improve your healthcare facility’s bottom line. 

The good news is that there are several things you and your team can do to improve your claim denial rates. Here are some great tactics you can have your claims team implement:

• Adding automated coding tools to your claims management software. A good claims management software program is great for tracking your facility’s claims. However, there is always room for improvement. Adding automated coding tools to your existing software will ensure all of your patients’ claims are coded correctly before being sent to their respective insurance companies. 
• Looking for and flagging potential denials ahead of time. Identifying claims that will most likely be denied before submission gives you a chance to fix them before going back and forth with the insurance company. 
• Hiring a healthcare claims clearinghouse. If you have the funds in your budget, consider hiring a healthcare claims clearinghouse. Their purpose is to check a claim for errors before submitting, so they will ensure your claims are filled out correctly and properly submitted to insurance companies the first time around.

3. Investigate your Days in Accounts Receivable (A\R) stats.

Accounts Receivable is a go-to resource for finding backlog within your healthcare facility. And, improving your net Days in Accounts Receivable rate will help eliminate backlog. Think about it. The longer patients’ bills sit in Accounts Receivable, the longer it takes for your healthcare facility to get paid for services rendered, and the more backlog you accumulate. One way to improve the amount of time your patients’ claims spend in A/R is to “go electronic.” You can send invoices out via email or create an online account portal for your patients where they can login and pay their bills. 

4. Change the way you handle patient statements. 

One aspect of the revenue cycle that is often overlooked but can lead to excess backlog is the improper handling of patient statements. According to Becker’s Hospital CFO Report, healthcare facilities can “eliminate heavy backlog by running statements twice a week.” 

5. Hire a third-party Revenue Cycle Management company. 

A third-party RCM company can help you identify and eliminate your backlog and so much more. These consultants are revenue cycle experts and will help your healthcare facility increase profits and become more efficient by implementing a plethora of important financial strategies. 

Find The Right Person Today!
Nearterm can provide the perfect healthcare services professional to lead your Revenue Cycle Management efforts by identifying and eliminating your backlog. To learn more about our RCM services, give us a call at (281) 646-1330 or take our Interactive Survey.