Since introducing nine ASC-specific revenue cycle management benchmarks in 2017, Regent Revenue Cycle Management (Regent RCM), an independent division of Regent Surgical Health, has seen the ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) that use them gain a much better handle on their financial health.
A new white paper offers insights from that experience and provides an update on KPIs.
“ASC-specific measurement tools simply did not exist before we authored them,” says Regent RCM Director of Revenue Cycle Management Erin Petrie. “Having the tools and intel to gauge performance across all functions of the revenue cycle has been a game changer for center leadership.”
Regent RCM, a leading provider of innovative and cost-effective revenue cycle management services exclusively for ASCs, developed the initial ASC revenue cycle benchmarks with a plan to refine them as key learning emerged. The white paper updates the original benchmarks based on two years of data and insights and adds a new benchmark: Accounts Receivable Follow Up. This metric goes deeper than overall center performance to provide a true measure of individual biller/collector performance.
Since early 2017, ASCs tracking the benchmarks have been especially successful against the benchmarks for Clean Claims and Denials.
“We’re increasing the Clean Claims benchmark in 2019 from 97% to 98% based on experience,” Petrie says. “We use a clearinghouse to provide us with data on whether or not our claims have all of the correct information to go out to the payers. And if they don’t, we’ve created an expectation for our staff to fix them in a timely fashion and get them out. That process has helped us make sure all of our claims go out clean, but in addition, our staff is now more aware of the issues, so they don’t make those omissions or errors in the first place.”
Similarly, since beginning to track denials and to shoot for a benchmark of less than 10% of claims denied two years ago, Regent RCM’s centers are now exceeding that gold standard. As a result, the benchmark is changing in 2019 to a gold standard of less than 5%.
The Regent RCM ASC Revenue Cycle Benchmarks have been embraced as a critical measurement tool to help surgery centers accurately measure revenue cycle health, and ultimately, account for every dollar they are entitled to. Regent RCM’s gold standards will continue to evolve as the Regent RCM team culls insights from the data and shares them to educate center business staffs, negotiate with payers, and assist ASCs around the country in receiving the most revenue for care that they can.
To learn more, download the free white paper here.
