At Moffitt Cancer Center, true revenue cycle transformation means aligning financial strategy, patient experience, and mission-driven outcomes.
In healthcare today the difference between financial resilience and operational strain often hinges on the strength of the revenue cycle. In the most recent episode of HealthLeader’s The Winning Edge series, Lynn Ansley, Vice President of Revenue Cycle at Moffitt Cancer Center, offered healthcare finance executives a detailed look at how one of the nation’s leading oncology institutions strategically invests in revenue cycle technology.
Ansley’s insights, rooted in both operational rigor and a mission-driven approach, underscore the importance of collaborative planning, financial discipline, and patient-centric innovation.
Building the Business Case with Finance and IT
Ansley emphasized the critical intersection of finance, IT, and operations in revenue cycle leadership. At Moffitt, she says, collaboration with both the CFO and CIO is thoughtful and strategic. With the CFO being a former VP of Revenue Cycle, there’s a shared language and mutual understanding that allows for more a effective evaluation of technology investments.
“When we go to approach a new technology at Moffitt, we are non-profit, so we need to clearly justify the return on investment in hard dollar savings to the organization,” Ansley said. “It’s important to build a business case that's easy to understand, one that highlights both the investment of resources to get the technology up and running, and then the ongoing support.”
Tackling Prior Authorization with RPA and AI
One standout success story is Moffitt’s financial clearance unit. Faced with rising treatment volumes and complex payer requirements, Moffitt has leveraged rules-based automation (RBA) to streamline prior authorizations. Over three years, automation rates have climbed from 48% to over 61%, even as case volumes have doubled.
Looking forward, Ansley sees AI playing a crucial role in peer-to-peer authorization workflows. By supporting high-skilled staff in navigating payer criteria and overturning denials, AI enables top-of-license work and strengthens cash flow without expanding FTEs.
Unified Tech Stacks and Cost-to-Collect
Fragmented technology is a major challenge in the healthcare revenue cycle. Ansley stressed the importance of reducing cost-to-collect as a primary driver of performance.
“We’ve maintained flat FTEs for four years by supplementing our team with the equivalent of 471 FTEs, or traditional emulators, in automation,” she shared.
Moffitt ties technology evaluation directly to enterprise KPIs like days in AR, denial rates, and ultimately, cash collections. The organization has also matured in publicizing and aligning these metrics across departments, reinforcing system-wide accountability.
Cybersecurity: A Revenue Cycle Imperative
A February 2024 cyberattack sent a clear message to revenue leaders: downtime preparedness is non-negotiable. At Moffitt, cybersecurity planning has evolved from IT-led to enterprise-wide, with quarterly tabletop exercises now part of revenue cycle operations.
“If you can't get claims out the door, you can't bring cash in the door," Ansley warned.
Ansley compared planning for cyberattacks to hurricane preparedness. During crises like natural disasters or cyberattacks, the organization requires all hands on deck, another example of cross-functional resilience.
Pragmatic AI Budgeting and Responsible Scaling
When evaluating emerging technologies like AI-powered coding or financial engagement tools, Ansley advised leaders to focus on what’s “ready for prime time.” She stressed the importance of identifying early ROI milestones rather than pitching an idealized, multi-year vision.
“If you make tracking ROI difficult, it just doesn’t get done,” she said.
Patient Experience as a Core Metric
While much of the discussion focused on efficiency and savings, Ansley circled back to Moffitt’s mission: curing cancer. Any technology, especially those with patient-facing uses, must enhance the patient journey. Moffitt even requires review by its Patient and Family Advisory Council before implementing such tools.
Looking ahead, Ansley pointed to autonomous coding and generative AI as areas of excitement, reinforcing that a “technology-enabled workforce” is essential for future-ready revenue cycle operations.
For finance executives, items like cost-to-collect, FTE optimization, and patient satisfaction must all be part of the ROI equation. But as Moffitt proves, success ultimately hinges on cross-departmental alignment, measurable milestones, and a mission-first mindset.
Marie DeFreitas is the CFO editor for HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
In the latest episode of The Winning Edge, Moffitt Cancer Center’s VP of Revenue Cycle Lynn Ansley dives into the key considerations when investing in technology for revenue cycle management.
Moffitt evaluates every revenue cycle technology investment by its impact on cost-to-collect, tying operational efficiency directly to the organization’s ability to fund cancer research.
By integrating financial, IT, and clinical teams early in planning, Moffitt avoids the common pitfall of fragmented tech stacks and builds scalable, patient-centered solutions.