Healthcare Revenue Cycle Recovery After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Patients have been asked to avoid healthcare facilities when possible, while more visits have been done via smartphones and laptops than in exam rooms. Efforts to maintain operations during a pandemic, including telehealth implementation and compassionate patient billing, have helped the bottom line from bottoming out for some hospitals.

Still, hospitals are slated to lose at least another $120.5 billion in 2020 from pandemic-related expenses, updated projections from AHA show. And losses could get worse if COVID-19 cases surge again, the industry group warns. Stabilizing finances and leveraging capabilities developed during the pandemic, like telehealth and patient-friendly collections, providers can help their revenue cycles recover and adapt to a post-pandemic world.