Becker's Hospital Review

66 Executive Briefing: Revenue Cycle daily office hours increased the collections window for the hospital. While the engagement with Children's Hospital is ongoing, the results to date of Xtend's efforts to recover self-pay balanc- es have been impressive. Midway through the project, Xtend has re- solved 56 percent of the accounts in the hospital's legacy system. They have also recovered 42 percent of the cash from these legacy accounts — and 75 percent of the cash on the accounts that have been resolved. At the end of January, Xtend also began working on the self-pay accounts within Children's new Epic system. Within the first three months, the company had resolved almost one-fourth of the accounts, recover- ing 93 percent of the cash from them. Xtend's goal, Ms. Drown says, is to reach overall account resolution of 95 percent or better. While crediting Xtend's processes and technology, Ms. Drown also attributes much of the success in reducing the hos- pital's self-pay balances to the company's ability to work with families through what is often a stressful time. "In addition to a partner assuring cash flow," she says, "having a partner who is in- vested in the best customer service for our patients has been invaluable. It provides a connection for the patient for immediate and prompt response to any insurance or private pay issues and the ability to have a number of creative payment options for resolving their account balances. "Xtend is constantly evolving their strate- gies to maximize both customer service and the effectiveness of our joint collection activities. With so many hospitals transi- tioning to new systems at the same time, it is fortunate that we had the full resources of a good vendor partner that allowed us to focus on our new system — knowing our legacy accounts and patient customer ser- vice were in good hands." n 4 Essential Things to Look for in a Self-Pay Vendor 1. Automated waterfall processes. Now, nonprofit hospitals face added compliance requirements regarding charity care. The new regulations make it more important that revenue cycle vendors offer presumptive charity scoring for self-pay patients. Look also at the vendor's ability to automate processes for determining eligibility for Medicaid or other programs at the time of service, as well as automated skip-tracing wa- terfall processes to update key information such as phone numbers, addresses and bankruptcies. 2. Regulatory expertise (and an ability to transmit that knowledge to you). Regulations change continually, and with the onset of PPACA, the healthcare collection process will become more dynamic as more financial responsibility shifts to the consumer. That makes it imperative to have a partner whose knowledge is current. Check to see if your vendor belongs to such associations as HFMA, AAHAM, AHIMA and AAPC. Ask, too, how able and willing they are to share their knowledge with you. Some vendors, like Xtend, offer sessions to update clients' executives and senior management on regulatory and policy changes that affect revenue cycle processes. The following are representative of the regulatory agencies that should be considered with your revenue cycle: FDCPA, CFPB, TCPA, HITECH, FTC and PCI. 3. Electronic security and liability protection. As hospitals transition to electronic records, protecting your information is mission-critical (just ask Target). Make sure your revenue cycle partner offers a high level of security. Ask what technology they use to encrypt all data — including patient health information — before emailing, exporting or storing it on removable media and external devices. Ask, too, about liability protec- tion. Your vendor should have a certificate of insurance coverage en- compassing professional liability, media content, network interruption and cyber-extortion. 4. Staffing and business office flexibility. Does your vendor offer ex- tended business office hours to increase the window for collections? Do they have dedicated staff for your account? Can they pool staff resources as needed for concentrated inventory management or spe- cial projects? In addition to customer service representatives, do they have seasoned healthcare professionals available to address issues that inevitably arise on balance resolution and account review? Are their staff members graded on key areas of customer service and the client experience? Xtend Healthcare is the fastest growing revenue cycle solution company offering 100% onshore solutions. We offer cutting-edge technology, experienced staff, and 100% satisfaction. Revolutionize your revenue cycle, Extend your staff and assets, and Improve your bottom line.

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