Artificial intelligence in healthcare utilizes available technology to evaluate specific issues within the revenue cycle in healthcare institutions, hospitals, and physicians offices. In doing so, AI maximizes the efficiency of the healthcare revenue cycle.
Physicians, administrations, and support staff all strive to audit and evaluate protocols to enhance the performance of their revenue cycles, but this takes time. Artificial Intelligence examines every key function, pointing out opportunities for improvement. As a result, AI establishes a workflow that can produce higher revenues for the organization.
What is Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare?
Also known as AI, Artificial Intelligence in healthcare is new technology that compares data within its framework to analyze processes, determine more efficient revenue cycle management, and explore what new types of software or technology that might replace less efficient protocols. With AI boosting profits and streamlining operations, the support staff is freed up to focus on things like patient satisfaction and medical billing. AI-based technologies can manage data, interpreting and extracting patterns more quickly and efficiently than human hands.
The Impact of AI on Revenue Cycle Management
Artificial Intelligence in healthcare has a direct impact on increasing efficiency in revenue cycle management. In the healthcare industry, the revenue cycle involves many steps that require support and billing staff to provide clear and correct information. Should one of these step fail, or be incomplete, denials, rejections, and non-payment of claims can pile up. A lengthy correction period to try to achieve payment status usually follows.
Also, AI can be implemented for correct coding and authorization processes, which adds another cog in the revenue cycle. Whereas manual reports from current software applications and perusal and comparison can take long hours, AI can collect the same data, analyze it, and offer solutions for increased efficiency in a short period of time.
Benefits of AI for Revenue Cycle Management
- AI offers correct coding initiatives. It does this by analyzing coding on claims to achieve correct coding the first time claims go out. As a result, organizations receive payments more quickly, with fewer denials. Even experienced and certified coders make mistakes, what with constant changes and evolving insurance regulations. AI cuts down on these errors dramatically.
- Prior authorizations is another difficult part of the revenue cycle. If often creates delays in payments, denials of services, and zero payments for providers. AI can harness its information database to reduce errors in authorizations for inpatient, outpatient, and office visits. This ensures fewer denials for prior authorizations.
- Eliminating repetitive steps when managing the revenue cycle frees up time for important interactions with patients. In other words, the healthcare revenue cycle requires many time-consuming tasks for billing and support staff, but with AI, organizations receive payments faster.
- Organizations have used AI for other aspects of healthcare. For example, AI can handle diagnosis, treatment guidelines, insurance policy aspects, and regulatory compliance.
- The hours invested toward redundant tasks involved in patient access, coding, billing, collections, and denials in revenue cycle departments can be automated through the use of Artificial Intelligence in healthcare.
The Problem of Technology Adoption
As with so many aspects of the healthcare industry, technology is expensive. Artificial Intelligence in healthcare promises to save organizations and providers money by maximizing revenue and changing processes to streamline revenue. However, the cost of installing and maintaining AI technology presents a potential problem.
Yes, AI has proven itself to bring money in quicker and more efficiently, but skeptics remain. While Artificial Intelligence is considered an alternative to current revenue cycle management techniques, surveys suggest that just over 40% of healthcare organizations use AI.
Still, many organizations who have begun to utilize AI in their practices can and will discuss this obstacle. Keep in mind, Artificial Intelligence is an investment in a practice or organization. Leading healthcare software companies are investigating the positive aspects of using AI with their systems to decrease man hours and increase profits.
If Your Organization is Interested in Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
If your Florida-based healthcare organization or practice has questions on how to increase profits, the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence in healthcare, allow the experts of Bloom Consulting meet with you. We offer the latest information on this topic and can help with your next revenue cycle. Our professional and experienced healthcare consultants are at your disposal to audit your current revenue cycle practices. Contact us today for advice and information on how to adapt AI processes to your current system.
