Best Practices in RCM Services : Optimizing Your Front Office

Key Takeaways

• Full potential for revenue cycle starts with an optimized front office
• Scheduling, pre-registration, insurance verification, authorization, patient check-in and consent to treat are the 6 critical areas
• Reducing no-shows, expediting patient flow, increasing provider productivity, preparing patients for out-of-pocket responsibilities, and identifying whether the patient’s insurance will reimburse for the service are quantifiable benefits to this focus
• Successful point-of-service collections – by knowing how and when to ask for patient payments – is important to your success

Think about your experience as a patient or caregiver when you walk into a practice. Some front offices are crowded, noisy and chaotic and the staff are scurrying around with their hair on fire. Others are relaxed, quiet, and organized and all the staff move with calm purpose.

Now try to guess which one is going to be doing better at billing and collections?

I tell my clients all the time: your front office drives everything in billing and collections. Everything you do here matters. But some things matter more than others. That’s why I recommend focusing on these 6 critical areas.

Read the full blog post on the Alta Medical Management website.