Revenue Cycle Management Trends for Healthcare Organizations in 2023

January 26, 2023

Understanding, optimizing, and strategizing for an efficient revenue cycle management (RCM) process is key to running an efficient healthcare organization. With the rise of technology and the expanded use of AI in healthcare, we expect significant shifts in trends around RCM and process management. Read on for our comprehensive guide to projected RCM trends in 2023.

Revenue Cycle Management: Forecasted trends in 2023

Adopting a strategic and preemptive approach to your revenue cycle management is vital to your practice’s ability to earn and retain revenue. Below, we’ve listed several forecasted RCM trends in 2023 – and encourage you to keep these front of mind as you begin preparing and planning your 2023 RCM strategy.

1. Competent coding and quality assurance encourage faster payouts

Investing in specialty medical coders and ongoing education around coding within your organization can encourage higher and more frequent payouts from third parties. Discrepancies with coding and submittals can cause delays from the start of your management process, carrying down through the actual disbursement step. Frequent seminars and educational opportunities for all administrative staff and physicians involved in the process are encouraged for quality control and training at a deeper level than the initial physician or assistant onboarding process within a given organization.

Cross-training or specialty hires may also be beneficial to mitigate the risk of inefficiency, taking a burden from medical professionals and encouraging further delegation and efficiency at every level of your organization.

2. Process development and iteration can reduce the strain posed by remote work systems

Telehealth and remote work in the healthcare field continues to rise in popularity, heightening the risk of inefficiency or logistical challenges. Preemptively adopting and refining your remote work support framework is a great way to support your RCM process. Physicians are encouraged to lean into available training, transition assistance programs and technology designed to reduce strain and barriers to payout to promote a sustainable and resilient RCM process.

Adopting this technology and incorporating relevant workarounds also addresses the ongoing problem of workforce attrition in healthcare, encouraging more flexible and team member-first employment experiences within your healthcare organization.

3. Using AI-based tools addresses risk of inaccuracies and inefficiency

Incorporating AI and machine-learning-based tools into your revenue cycle management processes offer you a range of benefits that you shouldn’t ignore – including:

• Less risk for error: As mentioned in point one, coding and billing errors can cause serious delays in provider payouts. Relying on AI-based tools can help you to actively mitigate this risk and enhance your team’s efficiency by minimizing the amount of manual labor required to start your RCM process.
• Less hiring costs: Despite the risk of human error, human expertise adds a certain level of nuance and sophistication to your RCM process. While AI tools shouldn’t replace team members, AI, as mentioned above, can reduce the need for human-supported manual labor – and can instead redirect human attention and staff to high-level tasks. This can result in fewer hires needed altogether and tighter workflows across every level of your organization.

Optimize your RCM with Zotec Looking to refine your RCM strategy? Connect with the team at Zotec today. Our partners are here to provide Patient Bill Care solutions that are tailored to your organization – doing the heavy lifting of RCM management for you. Our bespoke service is here to provide you with a superior financial framework that gives both your team and your patients the compliance assistance, framework, and overall support they need to thrive. For more information and to get started today, visit our website.