As orthopedic practices continue to grapple with changing payment structures and strategic partnership opportunities, Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) continues to be the single biggest concern outside of patient care. Exceptional RCM workflow and resolution provides orthopedic organizations with the cash flow required to run their operations successfully, but also build capital reserves so that they can expand where opportunities exist.

Today’s orthopedic patients are assuming a larger portion of the financial responsibility through high deductible insurance plans that have lower monthly premiums, but significantly higher out-of-pocket costs and annual maximums. This has created a healthcare consumer that is knowledgeable, inquisitive, and willing to pay in advance given accurate, trustworthy, and timely information.

What is the best way to capitalize on this new engaged consumer relationship during a time of declining revenues and evolving reimbursement structures?

Orthopedic RCM Challenges

By identifying key orthopedic RCM pain points that interfere with maximized reimbursement, we can begin to formulate answers that are cost-effective and provide multi-tiered solutions to everyday frustrations. While analyzing current systems, it’s important to look at the workflow, the people affected, and how efficiencies can be gained through technology and advanced automation.

Let’s look at three RCM bottlenecks that can be improved or eliminated and will capture leaking revenue that belongs in your bottom-line orthopedic results:

Prior Authorization

The prior authorization function is estimated to create over 16 hours of work per healthcare provider each week according to a recent AMA survey. In a specialty such as orthopedics, that number can climb to 25 to 30 hours depending on the type of practice and the amount of elective surgeries being done. With nearly 60% of patients waiting at least one day and up to five days for approval, prior authorizations lead to patient and provider frustration and ultimately care abandonment.

Automating the prior authorization process may be the single most impactful change an orthopedic practice can make—it frees up abundant time where staff members can be actively engaged with patients, reduces denials, and ensures prompt reimbursement. Today’s automation options include artificial intelligence and machine learning software to streamline and accelerate the entire process in the following ways:

  • Determining if a prior authorization is required, or not
  • Initiating and submitting a prior authorization request if needed
  • Automated status checks and follow-up with payers
  • Updating approval status in real-time to reduce cancellations and rescheduling of patients

Coding

Another outsized orthopedic RCM challenge is ensuring well-managed, timely, and precise CPT and ICD-10 coding. Staying current and ensuring that staff members are educated on pertinent coding issues is an endless task and one that remains critical to capturing reimbursement at rates that equal contracted amounts.

Many orthopedic practices are finding that marrying a third-party partner with in-house management is the best way to improve coding results. The other significant benefit to a fresh pair of eyes looking at your coding process is ongoing audits that can diagnose under coding or not coding to the highest level of specificity, unbundling habits, or overuse of codes.

A/R Optimization and Analytics

Having a strong denials management software solution helps secure payment on claims that are rejected by insurance payers for a variety of reasons. Managing denials is often relegated to a secondary or tertiary level of importance due to difficulty in obtaining missing information or perceived effectiveness leading to neglect or desertion. Often, business office staff simply turn their attention to the most emergent function and the arduous task of investigating and correcting old, rejected claims falls to the bottom of the “to-do list”.

Employing an intelligent RCM Platform like Infinx Healthcare offers, allows an orthopedic practice to capture more revenue from A/R, denials, and appeals by leveraging AI, machine learning, and robotic process automation. Infinx’s advanced technology supports providers in predicting, prioritizing, and recovering revenue from the A/R in a far-reduced timeline than most practices have previously achieved.

To date, Infinx has recognized these results:

  • 60% Reduction in >120 Day Outstanding
  • 40% Reduction in Denial Rates
  • 64% Decrease in Denial and Aged A/R Write-Offs

In addition, the analytics capabilities available through Infinx’s AROS dashboard, keeps providers up to date in real-time on the effectiveness of the entire process.

Automating the denials management process using artificial intelligence enhanced software can predict the next action on a per-claim basis, streamlining efforts by priority and likelihood of success. By using predictive learning based on payers’ rules and guidelines, you can maximize the effort required to follow up on unpaid claims bringing more revenue to the bottom line.

With the advances that are being made through automated, AI-driven solutions, orthopedic RCM problems can be easily solved, and provider and staff time freed up to focus on the patient experience.

If you want to know more, contact us to request a demo to discuss orthopedic RCM solutions that would benefit your organization.