August 26, 2019
Build Revenue Cycle Resilience With Educational Opportunities
Educating your team pays off, and as the revenue cycle becomes more complex, this statement is going to become truer.
In today’s environment of shifting reimbursements, complex coding, and increasing pressure to provide a stellar patient experience, healthcare organizations can’t afford to skimp on education — and healthcare leaders agree. Ginalisa Moterroso, CEO of Medicaid Advisory Group, shared her thoughts on revenue cycle education with RevCycleIntelligence:
“Internally, all healthcare facilities should have an education component… Everybody’s walking in with the wrong insurance. Everybody’s walking in with the wrong drug coverage. What the executives are missing internally is that education component.”
So what does this mean for revenue cycle leaders? Continuing education should be a priority — but not just any program will do. You’ll need to find the educational options that align with your goals and your team’s current needs.
First: Mind the Gap
We know that you have goals in multiple areas of the revenue cycle — reducing underpayments, improving the patient experience, adjusting to new regulations, adapting to new technology — whatever they are, make a list of the goals that you believe could be supported by training for your teams.
Once you’ve identified your goals, take stock of where your team stands today making sure to get individual team feedback on where weaknesses exist. Where do they need skills development? Didactic training? Formal education? Support on vendor systems? The answers to those questions will illuminate the types of education you need to focus on, and how you want to allocate your educational spend.
Formal Educational Options
While formal degrees might not be as targeted to the revenue cycle, the return and high-level understanding your team members gain may make them worth consideration. This is especially true if your organization offers tuition reimbursement, and you already have members of your team considering college courses.
If they’re looking to you for guidance, think about recommending degrees in health management, health information management, and health administration depending on their individual career goals and your objectives.
For more targeted options, don’t forget resources like HFMA’s Certified Revenue Cycle Representative content. It’s designed for professionals with one or more years of experience in revenue cycle and helps them grow in areas such as:
- The patient experience
- Denials reduction
- Improving financial performance
- Interdepartmental cooperation
Degrees and certificates like these aren’t just practical. They also support the reputation of your revenue cycle department and send a strong signal that you’re invested in the long-term career growth of your team members.
Informal Educational Opportunities
If you’re looking for something that pays off in the short term, less formal programs might be your best bet.
HFMA has you covered here, too, with courses in denials management strategies and price transparency. If you aren’t able to catch those, their on-demand webinars and podcasts on topics ranging from payment plans to patient financial conversations and prior authorizations can be incredibly useful in staying on top of fast-changing topics.
You also have options through NAHAM with courses including:
- Revenue Cycle Terminology
- Introduction to Healthcare Coding Systems
- Patient Intake Methods
- Getting Correct Information from Patients and Guarantors
- Why Coordination of Benefits Matters
Leveraging Vendor Support
In cases where your team can benefit from support on the emerging technology front, your vendor partners can be especially useful resources.
They understand the technology your team is using better than anyone and have a broad perspective on how it can be used to achieve individual and organizational goals. Talk with your partners about the training and resources they have. For example, at RevSpring, we offer our partners a hands-on workbook that focuses on Humanizing Revenue Cycle Management to help them improve patient experiences and financial outcomes.
Most importantly, treat your continuing education efforts as an ongoing initiative. The practices you establish today should be repeated and refined regularly to support you, your team, and your organization in future success during an exciting time for revenue cycle professionals.
RevSpring Can Help
Integrated payment communication is part of RevSpring’s DNA. We tailor the payment conversation to influence behavior and inspire action. Our segmentation rules and workflows help you become hyper-focused on the patient, understanding their ability to pay and mapping their financial obligations to repayment pathways.
If you’d like to learn more about our comprehensive patient engagement and billing solutions, we’d love to help you. Request a demo to see how we can help your organization meet its goals.
