Comparative analytics: Isolate areas to improve

A. Identifying and isolating areas that can improve financial performance requires comparative analytics to measure, monitor and manage key indicators through benchmarking results against peers.

Under the new reimbursement initiatives, HME providers are increasingly shouldering higher levels of risk to earn the same revenues that they received in the past. The ability to track all of the metrics associated with these initiatives, and then compare your performance against your peers, is becoming a critical need within these healthcare organizations.

From an operational perspective, HME providers need to understand the drivers that impact financial performance. Likewise, understanding the variables that impact customer satisfaction and comparing them against peers provides insights into underperforming areas where improvements can drive increased business and higher levels of revenue.

From a financial perspective, HME providers need to look for every opportunity to increase their margins, such as reducing claim error rates, implementing more efficient denial management strategies, and leveraging industry statistics to understand how their performance measures up against peers.

HME providers are challenged to pinpoint the areas where they should focus their efforts to maximize both operational and financial performance. To overcome these challenges, HME providers require an increased visibility into revenue cycle details. Comparative analytics provides the insight needed to quickly isolate problem areas, identify opportunities and get a better overall understanding of the variables that impact performance.

Brian Fugere is COO of RemitData. Reach him at bfugere@remitdata.com.