Why Patient Access Is Key to Revenue Cycle Management Success

Patient access is generally the first encounter a patient will have with a healthcare organization, making it central to the patient experience. But this aspect of healthcare is also a major first for another area: revenue cycle management.

During the patient access process, revenue cycle teams have their chance to get medical billing and reimbursement right the first time around.

Through patient access, revenue cycle teams can also clear patients financially for their scheduled services by verifying information and discussing and collecting upfront patient financial responsibility, such as copayments.

But the digital patient access and engagement tool has done more than improve patient experience. Point-of-service (POS) cash collections, for example, have also increased by 38 percent in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same time the previous year. And this is resulting in lower overall cost to collect for the health system.