What questions do you ask when searching for a healthcare revenue cycle management company uniquely qualified to work with you and your practice? For starters, narrow your search down by looking for one with niche specialization in medical coding, billing and collections that’s been around for many years, offers services tailored to your needs and removes the risk of outsourcing by assuring your return on investment.
The following questions are recommended as a guide to help you begin the process of making that all important healthcare revenue cycle management decision – a decision that can literally make or break your practice:
- What are the costs and fees for your services?
A full and clear expectation on the rates and how fees are calculated should be known before practices enter into an agreement. revMD.com, as one example, offers Assured Return, a no-risk method of revenue cycle management. Clients pay the percentage that aligns with their bottom line gain. This unique service ensures clients a win-win. - How much experience – and what type – do they have in the medical billing field?
Experience, or lack thereof, can make or break your practice. Ask the tough questions related to what they do and how long they’ve done it. These days, it takes an industry insider in medical coding, billing and collections. - Where is your work being done?
It’s important to make sure you understand where these services will be performed and by whom, because location can impact the quality of work. It’s usually safest to go with the traditional office with in-house staff and face-to-face accountability with company management. It’s surprising to learn just how easy it is for medical coding and billing to be sent to a facility thousands of miles away, often without the client’s knowledge. - How do you ensure the highest levels of safety, security and compliance?
Because anyone can say they are HIPAA compliant, you still want to make sure that your new healthcare revenue cycle management partner has a complete understanding of the HIPAA requirements and goes the extra mile to ensure safety, security and compliance. - What are their specific processes and procedures?
It’s important to establish a mutual understanding of what responsibilities each party will have in the partnership and the specific steps each will take throughout the process. Is cloud-based technology used? - What about the risk of transitioning my A/R from one revenue cycle management process to another?
The response you get to this answer is a critical one. It’s important to eliminate the risk of transitioning your A/R during a transition of healthcare revenue cycle management. A unique service called Revenue Bridge is now available to keep A/R flowing at optimal levels by bridging the gap, offering medical practices 100 percent assurance of complete revenue cycle management during the critical interim transition period. - How do they keep my practice informed of your activity and our progress?
All or most companies should provide your practice with standardized regular reports-at least on a monthly basis to keep you informed. A comprehensive reporting tool called RCM Console gives practices total control with 24/7 real-time updates on revenue cycle management performance. Customize reports, schedule them daily, weekly or monthly, track results on demand and access them anywhere. - How will a new company know my true revenue potential and help me optimize it?
It’s important to know your true revenue potential and how much a new medical coding, billing and collections company can move the needle for you. There’s a new tool called the MedRev Index, provided by revMD.com that reveals a practice’s full revenue potential in just moments. This algorithm-driven index serves as a benchmark that compares revenue performance with others in each medical specialty and generates a meta average indicating the level to which your revenue cycle management can be optimized. - Is ongoing education available for myself and my staff?
Whether educational resources are available to staff on an ongoing basis is a clear indicator of their investment in your team. This aspect of the services provided is important since industry changes happen frequently.
There’s one revenue cycle management firm with the niche specialization and history of proven success that can provide thorough responses to all of these questions.
revMD.com is the results-proven alternative for healthcare revenue cycle management, with a niche specialization in medical coding and billing that generates unprecedented results and builds profitable medical practices. Leveraging a history of industry wide success spanning 25 years, revMD.com partners with medical practices throughout the U.S. to optimize revenue for hospital based and practice based physicians. For more information, visit www.revmd.com.