"They don’t have to grow up in the revenue cycle, but they have to be able to cross the network," one executive told HealthLeaders.
When implementing a rev tech solution, strategy, key performance indicators, and vendor-provider collaboration are often touted as ways to ensure its success. However, there’s an additional, lesser-known component within the organizations themselves: the IT department.
By definition, an organization’s information technology department manages and resolves issues relating to computers and its greater technical network (tablets, medical machinery, etc.). As organizations consider investing in tech solutions, Jeanne Stokes believes IT staff should be part of the conversation.
At Ironwood Cancer and Research Centers, where she serves as director of revenue management, the practice has three IT specialists who assist with phone lines, revenue cycle operations, and radiology program software, respectively.
"I think with [IT specialists], we don’t have enough. We traditionally don’t hire huge amounts of IT folk. We hire just enough to get through," Stokes explained.
When the practice was having issues with a payers’ application programming interface (API), she had a member of the IT staff shadow and work alongside front desk workers to get a better understanding of how to address the problem.
"I need him to go to the front-end user to actually learn how their days go and let them be part of the conversation," Stokes said. "I think that would help them feel more engaged and have more ownership in what’s going on. Things would be better if we [consider things] from the front-end staff’s position instead of [from the executive’s position]."
Stokes also touted the benefits of having IT staff having a fundamental understanding of the revenue cycle and knowing where to find answers. For example, Ironwood sends their IT specialist to rev tech vendor conferences almost every year so that they’re able to stay up to date on the software and attend sessions to learn more about the revenue cycle.
"They don’t have to grow up in the revenue cycle, but they have to be able to cross the network," she said.
There’s similar value in bringing revenue cycle workers into the decision-making process, enabling them to become well versed in the solution’s functions and have ownership of its operations.
“They don’t have to grow up in the revenue cycle, but they have to be able to cross the network. ”
Jeanne Stokes, director of revenue cycle management, Ironwood Cancer and Research Centers
Jasmyne Ray is the revenue cycle editor at HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
IT specialists can be leveraged alongside revenue cycle staff to manage and address revenue cycle and payer technology issues.
An organization's IT specialist should be included in the decision making process when looking at different technology solutions.