Do you know how well your anesthesia practice is performing?
Providers think they know the answer to this question, but when they really drill down to figure out exactly how well their practices are performing, they often find themselves struggling to come up with an answer.
After all, there is a sliding scale of “well.” A practice may appear to be doing “well,” but what, exactly, does that mean? Are key performance indicators (KPIs) up or down? Is the practice more efficient – or has it become stagnant? Are there areas for improvement, and are there plans in place to improve these areas?
To get the most out of an anesthesia practice, a provider has to keep in tune with every aspect of the business and stay abreast of what’s happening and why it’s happening – and how it can be made better.
Using Technology to Stay Informed
Knowledge is power, or so they say, and the same goes for running a practice.
Technology can provide more information for you than ever before, giving you all the data and knowledge you need to run your practice with efficiency and effectiveness.
For example, technology can help you:
- Analyze your revenue cycle
- Keep track of your billings and identify fluctuations
- Access reporting
- Keep up with any task for any part of your practice
- Know what is working and what isn’t
Using technology is a must, not just for moving to a paperless office, either, but for truly understanding what is working well and what needs to be improved (as well as making your office more efficient all around).
Following Key Performance Indicators
KPIs set standards for you to follow so that your practice has steady benchmarks of progress – allowing you to see, at a glance, if you’re meeting your goals.
Examples of KPIs and standards include:
- Total unpaid claims (shoot for under five percent)
- Number of days from time of service to submitting a claim (the industry average is three days)
- The percentage of claims paid in 45 days or less (try for no less than 85 percent)
- Denial rate (shoot for under five percent)
- Net collection rate (the industry standard is 95 percent or above)
- The percentage of accounts receivable that are over 120 days past due (should be no more than 15 percent)
Following these KPIs can tell you very easily if you are ahead of the curve or lagging behind. Once you are aware, you can take steps to rectify these problems and improve your numbers.
Anesthesia revenue cycle management can accomplish all of these things, from providing technology to manage your practice to identifying, following, and improving KPIs. Contact a third-party revenue specialist to learn more about outsourcing this crucial part of your practice and improving your results.