ASC Revenue Cycle Key Performance Indicators to Monitor (Part II)
Monitoring revenue cycle key performance indicators (KPIs) is an essential process for improving ASC business office productivity. But monitoring alone will not achieve the positive changes necessary to effectively grow the bottom line.
The first article in this two-part series identified ASC revenue cycle KPIs worth tracking while explaining the importance of monitoring these KPIs, sharing target benchmarks, and noting warning signs that may indicate a suffering KPI. This second part dives further down into these KPIs. For some, we note common problems associated with a poorly performing KPI and describe solutions to help overcome such obstacles to success. For others, we provide guidance for effectively analyzing trends.
Days to Bill/Charge Lag
Common problems:
- High provider dictation days. The goal should be same-day dictation.
- Providers not responding to coding queries or amending operative notes upon request.
- Missing documentation (e.g., pathology report, history and physical, implant log, invoice).
- Billing team issues (e.g., lack of resources, poor time management, workflow inefficiencies, insufficient knowledge of rules and processes).
Solutions:
- Require providers to dictate on the same day of the surgery. Implement a policy that penalizes providers who do not dictate in a timely manner.
- Establish an efficient process for business office staff to submit requests (e.g., coding questions, report amendments) to providers and receive timely responses.
- Closely track any missing documentation to ensure timely responses to payer requests. Note: Do not hold up billing for implant pricing if the implant is not covered by the payer.
- Address billing team deficiencies immediately. Improve the likelihood of identifying issues by monitoring team productivity, days to bill, clean claim submission percentage, tracking of held cases, and charge entry accuracy.
