With our industry in turmoil and practices in the throws of the COVID-19 Novel Coronavirus crisis, practices are forced to cut back operations and shift employees to either work-from-home, furloughed, or laid-off altogether. It is imperative now, more than ever, to monitor the vital lifelines of the revenue cycle and your practice. Below are critical reporting areas of your revenue cycle you should be looking at on a regular basis to maintain proper cash flow and an efficient and effective revenue cycle.
Claim Volume Report
This report tracks the claim volume by payer category and original billing media (paper, electronic, statements, etc.) by original billing date. The billing media charge volume ratio should remain relatively consistent over time and in line with expectations for the carrier category. The claim volume report also helps alert you if there is a notable fluctuation in charge volume, shift in original billing media that might suggest a payer mix shift, or incorrect setup of a carrier in the master file.
Click here to see the “Claim Volume” Report
Payment Posting Lag Report
The payment posting lag report shows you the turnaround time (TAT) from receipt/deposit to posting for payments and denials. You should review the report to ensure posting TAT is consistent and within expectations. If lags are outside expectations, investigation may be required to identify bottlenecks or inefficiencies in the process.
Click here to see the “Payment Posting Lag” Report
Charge Posting Lag Report
The charge posting lag report measures turnaround time from DOS to charge posting. You should review the report to ensure charge posting turnaround time is consistent and within expectations. Results should be trended by provider, location, andservice line. If lags are outside expectations, an investigation may be necessary to identify restrictions or inefficiencies in the process.
Click here to see the “Charge Posting Lag” Report
Denials Report
A denials report provides denial trending by insurance carrier category and denial category. You should review denial trending to identify any unexpected increases in denial volume by denial category or carrier for further investigation. Also, review controllable denial categories (authorization, eligibility, coding, non-covered) to identify opportunities for process improvement and denial minimization.
Click here to see the “Denials” Report
AR Follow Up Analysis Report
The AR follow up analysis report helps monitor that open claims out to insurance are being worked on promptly. Below are examples of AR follow up reports for 40+ and 60+ days.
40+ Days Since Follow Up Table Can Be Found In “AR Follow Up Analysis”
This report show # of vouchers and AR by aging for vouchers that have had claim notes applied during previous work efforts, but have not had a claim note applied in 40+ days. These claims should be isolated for collectors to work, re-status, and push the payer for resolution.
60+ Days No Follow Up Table Can Be Found In “AR Follow Up Analysis”
This report show # of vouchers and AR by aging for vouchers that have had no payment or adjustment that were last billed 60+ days ago, and have had no claim notes applied. These claims should be statused to confirm the payer has the claim on file and adjudication is forthcoming.
Click here to see the “AR Follow Up Analysis” Report
Appointment Eligibility Status Report
This report trends the results of eligibility verification efforts as logged in the PM system. The appointment eligibility status report shows the percentage of kept non-self-pay appointments that fall into each of the eligibility statuses. It can help illustrate registration errors that prevent the payer from finding the patient (Exceptions) and instances where the patient has new insurance that has not yet been obtained (Inactive). Trends can be used to help educate staff to reduce registration errors and ensure updated insurance information is being captured.
Click here to see the “Appointment Eligibility Status” Report
Weekly Dashboard Report
The weekly dashboard report trends a series of metrics over time to understand cash flow, identify bottlenecks with charge submission, understand progress toward working AR, denial volume, and appointment trends.
Click here to see the “Weekly Dashboard” Report
Copay Collection Report
The copay collection report trends front desk success rate in copay collection to monitor up front collection efforts.
Click here to see the “Copay Collection” Report
E&M Mix Report
This report trends practice E&M level utilization against national trends to identify if a practice is being too aggressive on E&M level and risks audit, or too conservative on E&M level and risks lost revenue.
Click here to see the “E&M Mix” Report
Outstanding AR Percentage By Month Report
This report tracks AR satisfaction by service month over time to monitor that claims are being resolved as expected and no unexpected pockets of AR are accruing.
Click here to see the “Outstanding AR Percentage by Month” Report
Days in A/R by Payer Report
This report illustrates how quickly insurance companies process and pay claims. It’s crucial to understand payer processing time norms and identify if payment goals are not being met based on experience with your practice’s major payers. Quickly focusing on payers that begin to process outside of identified norms can ensure there are no holdups caused by practice or payer behavior that are negatively impacting cash flow.
Click here to see the “Days in A/R Payer” Report
Revenue Cycle Management Industry Leaders
Having the proper protocols in place to monitor your revenue cycle is critical to truly understanding the health of your revenue cycle and practice’s profitability. If you have any questions on how to deploy these analytical metrics in your practice or interested in entrusting HIS team of revenue cycle experts to manage it for you please contact us today!
