Learn how organizations have begun to integrate revenue cycle functions—consolidating staff, processes, and systems across various sites of care.

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Despite the challenges, integrating certain key functions presents an opportunity to transform the revenue cycle from an operational process into a strategic asset that improves patient convenience and mitigates reimbursement risk.

We've outlined seven tactics to increase revenue cycle integration across care sites. The first four tactics aim to increase patient convenience while the last three offer help in mitigating reimbursement risk.

Patient convenience

1. Unified customer service
   Customer service integration across care sites allows patients to call one number to ask about all of their financial obligations within the health system.
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3. Cross-continuum financial services
   When patients receive appropriate financial counseling, both the health system and the patient benefit. There is a mutual understanding about the patient’s financial situation, ability, and propensity to pay.
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5. Single patient statement
   A single patient statement shows a patient’s obligations from both physician practices and hospital visits, provides full transparency regarding what is owed, and includes a clear list of obligations that can be paid with a single transaction.
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7. Front-end integration
   Progressive organizations are working toward combining all front-end functions, allowing patients to schedule, preregister and receive pricing information for procedures within the same phone call.
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   Mitigating reimbursement risk

9. Standardized revenue cycle onboarding
   Incorporating new physician practices into a health system’s revenue cycle requires a strong team tthat will ease the transition and develop best practices for integrating diverse systems, processes, and cultures.
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11. Procedural coding
    While most organizations do not recommend centralized facility and physician coding, coding for particular procedures may be integrated, which can result in greater coding consistency and efficiency.
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13. Unified payer scorecard
    When negotiating on behalf of the health system, a scorecard representing all entities presents a complete picture of the payer-provider relationship, and may pinpoint areas for improvement to make it more efficient.

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