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How a Fully Integrated Tech Platform Will Help Your Revenue Cycle

Analysis  |  By Alexandra Wilson Pecci  
   November 21, 2018

A system that integrates practice management, revenue cycle management, and EHR functions can increase collections, help develop new payment models, and more.

Technology platforms that fully integrated practice management, revenue cycle management, and EHR systems are the way of the future, according to Black Book Research’s annual practice management satisfaction survey.

Integrated systems offer a range of benefits, from increasing collections to designing alternate reimbursement and payment methodologies, the survey shows.

"With over fifty percent of US doctors receiving their pay directly or indirectly from a hospital system organization, CFOs and CIOs are seeing the value-based care model potential, reimbursement improvements and resources expenditure savings to be gained by implementing a fully integrated healthcare information technology system," Doug Brown, managing partner of Black Book Research, said in a statement.

They survey included respondents more than 3,000 hospital-owned or employed physician practice organizations. It found that:

  • 85% of integrated delivery network (IDN) executives believe that aligning hospital and physician IT can help meet the challenges of changing model of accountable care and value-based payments
     
  • 89% of hospital executive respondents say non-integrated EHR and current practice management systems do not allow leaders to strategically design alternative reimbursement and payment methodologies
     
  • Hospital-owned and employed physician practices on an integrated EHR/practice management/revenue cycle management platform collect an average of 29% more on billed charges than independent practice physicians with non-integrated or unconnected EHR/RCM platforms
     
  • 92% of respondents seek integrated EHR solutions to allow IDN administrators and clinical team leaders to monitor and analyze provider performance across the system

Many systems are already moving toward integration.

They survey showed that 40% of large hospital systems respondents are budgeting to replace multiple existing medical practice systems with consolidated and integrated ambulatory technologies that complement and interoperate with the EHR and revenue cycle management systems by the end of 2020.

Alexandra Wilson Pecci is an editor for HealthLeaders.


KEY TAKEAWAYS

Executives believe integrated platforms help with value-based payments.

Integrated platforms help increase collections.

They can also help with provider performance analysis.


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