Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1499344
58 EXECUTIVE BRIEFING 4 EXECUTIVE BRIEFING ASC ensure the data it is benchmarking is current, and help a center more easily assess benchmarking results and find where its performance may need improvement. But the benchmarking benefits of a next-generation analytics platform don't stop there. A good ASC billing company will confidentially benchmark its ASC clients' performance against similar clients to reveal additional insights and opportunities. Furthermore, the ASC billing company should leverage its next-generation analytics platform to support its own internal benchmarking and improvement, using client data to identify areas and staff that would benefit from more resources and support, assess the success of improvement measures and set goals for team members. Raising your expectations It's critically important that ASCs perform due diligence before choosing a revenue cycle management partner. Companies vary greatly in the types and quality of services provided. The partner selected should be well equipped with the ASC knowledge and experience required to provide significant, sustainable revenue cycle improvements. It should also leverage solutions like next-generation analytics that can help a surgery center take its revenue cycle from good to great. Elevating performance will give you the ability to reward employees more significantly and frequently, helping improve retention and performance; make ongoing capital investments that improve quality of care and drive growth; and deliver increasing distributions to owners. Elevated performance also helps ASCs reduce avoidable problems, which can create challenges for patients and require additional work for staff. Revenue cycle greatness should be the goal for all ASCs. The right people, processes, knowledge and technology can make it achievable. Nathan Hess (nathan.hess@surgicalnotes.com) is chief technology officer for Surgical Notes, a nationwide provider of billing solutions, including transcription, coding, revenue cycle management (RCM) and document management applications for the ASC and surgical hospital markets. Angela Mattioda is Sr. Vice President of RCM Solutions & Client Experience for Surgical Notes Q: One of the advantages for ASCs that have access to next- generation analytics is the capability to better monitor revenue cycle key performance indicators (KPIs). Why is this so valuable? Angela Mattioda (AM): When ASCs can improve how they monitor and benchmark KPIs, they gain better control over their revenue cycle performance. This helps with identifying problems that drag down revenue and profits and then implementing solutions to resolve such issues. Such efforts are strengthened greatly when supported by next-generation analytics. When you can more effectively assess KPI trends, you will put your ASC in a position to achieve meaningful, lasting improvements that can greatly impact your short- and long-term financial stability and profitability. Q: What KPIs should ASCs monitor using their system? AM: With next-generation analytics, you gain the ability to streamline the monitoring and assessment of KPIs. This enables you to monitor and assess more KPIs in the same amount of or less time than you would need for monitoring and assessing KPIs using a legacy system or no system at all. You also gain access to predictive analytics that can help you anticipate trends and make decisions based on those predictions. Among the KPIs ASCs should monitor using their next-generation analytics system: days to bill/charge lag, days to pay, specialty trending, payer volume trending, accounts receivable (AR) greater than 90 days, days in AR, days to dictate, denial rate, denial reason trending, clean claim percentage, percentage of collections for cases greater than 90 days, revenue per case, net to cash percentage, cash goal percentage, percent of contractual adjustment, cases in AR and patient balances. Q: What else can ASCs do to gain a stronger understanding of their KPI performance? AM: Ongoing monitoring and benchmarking of KPIs should be supplemented by a revenue cycle assessment and coding audit. An examination of KPIs is only valuable if you know what your optimal KPI benchmarks should be. An effective revenue cycle assessment — conducted by an experienced third party with ASC expertise — will include a comparison of your KPIs to industry standards, taking into consideration your surgery center's specific qualities (e.g., specialties, payor mix) when applicable. The assessment — completed through the review of a random selection of patient cases — takes a deep dive into an ASC's revenue cycle metrics and processes to discover issues negatively affecting cash flow. Following completion of the assessment, an ASC should receive a detailed report that provides a findings summary, an analysis of its revenue cycle metrics and how they measure up with industry standards, and a breakdown of each assessed account's findings and other details. A revenue cycle assessment is important whether an ASC performs billing in-house, contracts with an ASC billing company or has its billing completed by a management company partner. External services are not devoid of problems. Even if the assessment demonstrates that the service used is functioning well, it's beneficial to receive this confirmation. Undergoing the assessment in conjunction with a coding audit will provide an ASC with an even more detailed picture of revenue cycle performance and areas for improvement. Coding is vital to ensuring correct payment for services rendered. While a revenue cycle assessment can point to potential coding problems hurting cash flow, a coding audit will identify those issues with greater specificity. Surgical Notes is the premier ASC billing services partner. Our expert teams with ASC-specific experience provide scalable revenue cycle management services and solutions that fully integrate with leading ASC practice management systems. The largest management companies and hundreds of ASCs that partner with Surgical Notes benefit from immediate financial improvements. Importance of revenue cycle KPIs: Q&A with Surgical Notes' Angela Mattioda