CASE STUDY
How a Multi-Facility Hospitalist Group Improved Cash Flows
CLIENT PROFILE
A large private practice hospitalist group in the south consisting of over 30 providers and serving a health system and numerous skilled nursing facilities.
THE OPPORTUNITY
While the hospitalist group had outsourced their revenue cycle services to a local company, their rapid growth was making it difficult for the outsourced group to keep up. As a result, charge lag was increasing, charges were missing, and accounts receivable was growing. The hospitalist group needed a partner capable of meeting their immediate needs while also developing processes to help them succeed well into the future.
THE SOLUTION
MMG stepped in to support the hospitalist group, first conducting an assessment with the group’s leadership to identify expected revenues based on the physicians’ productivity. MMG then reviewed workflows, charge capture procedures and physician coding.
Using these insights, MMG presented the partner physicians with a model to improve the revenue cycle process from charge capture to collections.
MMG automated manual processes, worked with the hospital to electronically pass demographic and other patient data, improved the physician coding and ICD -10 capture, and implemented checks and balances to ensure all work is captured and billed.
MMG also helped the group automate the charge capture process, working in conjunction with the hospitals and skilled nursing facilities to improve data flow. MMG wrote a custom program to automate the charge capture and coding of EKG readings performed by the group – something that was previously done on paper, mailed, and manually entered into the system.
Finally, MMG improved communication with the physician leadership of the practice through bi-weekly meetings, written agendas, and continuous improvement of processes.
THE OUTCOME
Since outsourcing RCM services to MMG, the hospitalist group has seen significant improvements in charge capture, collections and overall revenue cycle process. While monthly charges with the previous outsourced vendor averaged $2.9 million per month, since working with MMG, the average monthly charge has increased to $3.5 million. What’s more, average collections have increased by over $200,000 per month.