Eyeworld

MARCH 2020 | EYEWORLD | 101 I by Sara Burns Rapuano to your practice. There are opportunities for operational improvement in every part of the revenue cycle. Operational improvements can increase your revenue as well as decrease your costs. A "waste walk" of your revenue cycle fo- cuses on decreasing those costs. When we iden- tify waste, we create a strategy for improving operations by reducing those wastes, and most importantly we create feedback loops to ensure continuous improvement. A key part of process improvement within the revenue cycle is using the full capabilities of your practice manage- ment and electronic health record software. Revenue cycle management process I suggest you execute a "waste walk" of your practice by evaluating seven touchpoints in your revenue cycle. The touchpoints to look at include: the call center, the reception desk, the technician team, the physician, the surgical coordinator or the optical shop, the billing department, and the accounts receivable follow-up process. Be- cause accurate coding and com- pliance needs to be considered by everyone, it is at the center of all of these. We hope your patients complete this cycle over and over. By analyzing the complete patient life cycle/revenue cycle, practices can im- prove their bottom line. Identifying waste Waste can take many forms. At its core, it is any- thing that does not add value to the process. Our computer A s an ophthalmology practice man- agement consultant, over the years I have often been asked to review practices' billing office operations. The nature of these reviews has changed as insurance plans have shifted much of the burden of healthcare costs to patients with higher deduct- ibles and copayments. Reviewing the billing office is not enough. We need to look at the entire revenue cycle. The revenue cycle starts when your call center answers the phone to make that first appointment and ends when the office collects all payments due from insurance and patients. Of course, the revenue cycle is much stronger if it operates in a lean and professional manner that encourages the patient to return Taking a "waste walk" through your revenue cycle management process About the author Sara Burns Rapuano Ophthalmology practice management consultant Philadelphia, Pennsylvania continued on page 102 Contact Rapuano: Sbrapuano@gmail.com Coding and compliance A/R follow-up Call center Reception Billing Surgical coordinator or optical shop Physicians Technician team Source: Sara Burns Rapuano

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