WALTHAM, MA – Revenue cycle executives for healthcare organizations are focusing most of their attention on improving patient collections, according to a recent survey of finance executives.
According to the survey, released in mid-June, some 94 percent of responding executives say improving collections on patient payments is among their organizations’ top three revenue cycle priorities.
Executives are concerned about collection improvement, according to the survey of 173 senior level finance and operations decision makers. The survey was conducted by Healthcare Finance News for Connance, Inc., a Waltham, Mass.-based developer of patient collection applications.
When executives were asked to identify the biggest challenge for improving patient collections, some 43 percent of respondents said they fear the pace of patient revenue growth will exceed their organization’s ability to respond.
After that, executives said the next challenge they face is the increasing cost of patient collections.
Executives said they hope to counter these pressures by working smarter, with technology playing a key role.
Some 47 percent of responding executives said their organizations are planning to install new technology. That trend is particularly pronounced among large providers, with revenues in excess of $500 million, of which 57 percent said they are looking for IT solutions.
By contrast, 32 percent of respondents said they plan to restructure or consolidate their collections operations; 30 percent said they are looking to invest in modeling tools developed specifically for self-pay collections; and only 25 percent said they will hire more staff.