Five Ways to Success for Revenue Cycle Teams Working Remotely

Remote working has become the norm in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. While some healthcare revenue cycle departments were able to expand existing processes to a work-from-home model, others struggled to adapt and took the help of revenue cycle management companiesto handle the backend work and managemedical records for smooth functioning of the reimbursement process. 

 As a hospital billing services provider, we also had to adapt to remote work for the safety of our staff. This is why we understand the need to work seamlessly with decentralized teams and havethus put together5 key ways to have a successful remote revenue cycle team.  

 Have a centralized datamanagement solution 

While working remote, it is important to not have any delays in the coding and billing process of medical records. If you work offline and update the information at the end of the day, there will be a lag in the access to information during the work day and also a delay in processing claims to get reimbursement for services rendered. Working from a single and centralized solution will provide real-time updates, which will result in fewer corrections and rework.  

Standardize structure and workflows 

For every step of the revenue cycle process, there should be an individual or a team responsible for its completion. Mapping out expectations and accountability will provide your team with clarity on their remote roles.There are significant advantages to having an automated workflow as it helps keep track of claims, provides notifications to those who need to do something in order to move the claim further along the reimbursement process and also helps highlight any bottlenecks in the process if claims aren’t being submitted in a timely manner. 

Communication 

Effective communication is essentially for a smooth operations process. In a remote setting, its tougher to communicate as you can no longer walk over to a colleague’s desk to discuss a certain doubt or idea. This is why you should encourage your staff to have video calls regularly as it is a great way to facilitate clear communication. It is also important to have communication channels that are HIPAA compliant as you will be dealing with patient data.  

Data driven decisions 

Robust reporting capabilities and processes can assist managers in gaining real-time updates on the team’s productivity and will also allow them to quickly access customized reports to share with the team to ensure there is efficiency and high productivity. Providing the team with feedback and numbers will not only help staff monitor their work, but will also help management evaluate and assign work and determine next stepsin the medicalbilling servicesprocess. 

Partner with a medical billing company  

Medical billing teams are not the only ones who went remote.The staff at medical billing companieshave been working remotely as well for safety reasons.Medical billing companieshavesuccessfully learned to work remoteand ensure the operations function runs smoothly for providers. Reach out to a medical billing company today to learn how you can benefit from their team and processes.   

3Gen Consulting provides end-to-end revenue cycle management services and can assist your organization in maintaining efficient billing and coding processes for a healthy cash flow.