The operating room is the revenue-producing engine for most hospitals. As such, sometimes it needs routine maintenance and tune-ups to continue working optimally. When you have exhausted the most obvious options for increasing surgical revenue—like negotiating better rates with payors or running patient referral campaigns—you may find that your lowest hanging fruit is actually in your perioperative suite. Streamlining processes, making more informed choices and taking good care of your surgical staff can support your bottom line more effectively than you may realize.
Improving Upfront Procedures and Patient Eligibility
Patient intake is an important part of the surgical process. When executed poorly, it can have disastrous consequences to the surgical schedule. Implementing an electronic batch eligibility verification system is one way to improve upfront procedures and optimize the patient eligibility process. This type of software offers a single solution to a time-consuming task for staff. It can eliminate the inconvenience and awkwardness of telling patients that charges not covered by insurance are due. Additionally, verifying eligibility before each appointment makes check-in faster and reduces the risks of rejected claims.
Optimize Denial Management Through Coding Audits
Coding denials are a significant component of claim denials. Since capturing revenue the first time a claim is submitted is most effective, avoiding coding errors is essential. Performing regular coding audits is a great way to resolve issues before they become major problems. If errors are detected, they should be corrected and brought to the attention of the appropriate staff. Partnering with a denial management service may be worthwhile for some facilities to keep in-house staff on task. Reviewing the reasons that caused a coding denial is a laborious process that should be avoided at all costs.
Take Steps to Reduce Clinician Burnout
Staff turnover can result in extraordinary recruiting and onboarding expenses. Additionally, losing key clinicians can cause notable revenue losses. Spotting signs of burnout quickly is critical and swift steps should be taken to address them. Even though staying fully staffed is a major challenge right now, it is among the most important ways to prevent clinician burnout. Facilities with surgeon staffing challenges can find relief by partnering with NexGen Surgical for surgeon management services. Not only does NexGen place outstanding surgeons in areas where they are needed most, but optimizing utilization, expanding the surgical specialties offered and increasing surgical capacities are among the other benefits clients receive when partnering with NexGen.
Expect More From Surgeon Leadership
Surgeon leadership quality directly affects hospital margins and patient satisfaction. As patient satisfaction becomes increasingly important as the shift to value-based care takes hold, surgeon leadership becomes paramount to the success of any hospital. If your surgeons are spreading low morale or seem more concerned with quantity over quality, it may be time for a change. NexGen surgeons have proven track records of excellent leadership and solely focus on patient care. Since NexGen takes on the administrative burdens of running a busy surgical practice, our surgeons can dedicate their energy toward fostering close, ongoing relationships with patients and delivering unmatched levels of care.
Discover More Value in Your Surgical Department
Rather than looking for new areas to cut costs and widen margins, you can recover lost value in your surgical department. Having a full team of surgeons who are dedicated to maximizing their surgical volume potential and reversing inefficiencies goes a long way toward increasing revenue. Fine-tuning patient throughput and taking time to educate staff on coding expectations are seemingly small initiatives that can result in a significant payoff. For help finding the lost revenue your hospital needs, contact us today. Our team of surgical management experts will closely analyze the surgical needs of your hospital and community, create a customized plan for making your surgical services more profitable and increase your quality of care for patients.
