Hospitals and health systems are constantly challenged to maintain a strong revenue cycle amid fluctuating industry dynamics. Leaders must remain vigilant, looking for ways to speed cash flow, reduce the cost-to-collect, maintain regulatory compliance and respond to new and emerging payment models. The increasing use of technology, along with rising consumerism and shrinking margins, are also factors organizations must deal with as they aim to improve and sustain performance.
To learn more about revenue cycle challenges and how hospitals and health systems are addressing them, the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) surveyed 108 hospital and health system CFOs and revenue cycle management (RCM) executives. The survey took place across two weeks in September, with some of the questions revisiting topics from previous studies conducted in 2018 and 2017. This HFMA Research Highlight, sponsored by Navigant, discusses key takeaways.
EHR adoption hurdles still outweigh the benefits
Although many in the industry believed that electronic health records (EHRs) and their revenue cycle management components would streamline operations, this technology has not fully delivered, particularly regarding revenue cycle performance. The majority (62%) of healthcare executives surveyed suggest that EHR adoption challenges have been equal to or outweigh the benefits specific to their organizations’ revenue cycle performance — up from 56% in 2018. More hospital-based and small hospital executives have this perspective versus health system and large hospital executives.