ANALYTICAL & LABORATORY EQUIPMENT
BOOSTING LAB EFFICIENCIES N
Suren Avunjian explains how combining RCM with LIS increases lab revenue
o matter what type of service a laboratory specialises in, it takes money to keep things going. Unless you’ve found a generous
benefactor with never-ending resources, getting compensated for the services your lab provides is essential. But oftentimes, managing the revenue cycle is easier said than done. Tis is especially true for molecular, clinical and anatomic pathology laboratories that work within healthcare environments.
What makes medical labs unique is that
beyond patients and providers (physicians and other healthcare organisations), much of their compensation is dependent upon the approval of government entities and insurance companies. Unfortunately, these payers can use a host of reasons to deny payment. On top of this, medical labs also face reduced reimbursement rates, ever-changing payer rules and a growing population of uninsured and
underinsured patients. Not to mention, large fluctuations in patient volume and unprecedented staffing shortfalls. Tese challenges combined make it difficult for lab managers to keep their organisations financially healthy. Yet despite this, some labs are hesitant to change the way they operate. Some are willing to spend money on two disparate systems – a laboratory information system (LIS) for operations and testing, and a revenue cycle management (RCM) system for all billing functionality – and others don’t even go that far as they continue to rely on mostly manual processes for billing. Both scenarios represent lost opportunity for laboratories that remain unwilling to invest in a singular solution that improves both LIS and RCM simultaneously. Tat’s unfortunate, especially when you consider that a recent report has found that healthcare companies saved US$122
billion in administrative expenses by using RCM software in 2020 alone. Te same report identified a further US$16 billion in savings that could be achieved by automating just nine common RCM administrative tasks. Based on this report, it’s clear that
investing in RCM software can save laboratories money. Now imagine the savings a lab can realise when investing in a fully integrated system, one that supports all LIS and RCM functionality from a single database and software infrastructure.
NWP is enjoying many benefits as a result of opting for a LIS & RCM solution 10
www.scientistlive.com
REAL-WORLD CASE STUDY US-based Northwest Pathology (NWP) is a perfect case study for what can be accomplished by upgrading to one fully integrated software solution. NWP employs a talented group of pathologists who have served the
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