KLAS Revenue Cycle Summit 2023
Written by Matt Wilson | August 22, 2023
After returning from spending the latter part of last week in beautiful Park City, UT, for the inaugural KLAS Revenue Cycle Summit, I took several days to absorb and reflect on some of my lessons learned. From a personal standpoint, there were some clear wins. First, and if only for a few days, it was amazing to escape the brutal Midwest heat. Park City is an extraordinarily beautiful place and one of the most pleasant environments I've been in to share fellowship and learning with industry colleagues. KLAS did a fantastic job with this first Summit, welcoming nearly 200 professionals and highlighting pivotal industry trends between invigorating sessions and engaging interactions. I'll provide a few of my key takeaways and thoughts about how SparkChange is making distinctive contributions to the future of the healthcare revenue cycle. For purposes of my comments, I'll concentrate on the automation-focused content and leave the autonomous coding part of the conference for another day.
ROI, ROI everywhere but not a dollar to take
I continue to be struck by the fact that while so many vendor-related conversations center on ROI, few result in actual cash or reductions in labor expenses. ROI and where to start dominated the panel discussions along with the table breakouts, but the general attitude of the providers was that ROI either rarely materializes or takes so long to produce that it takes years to dig out of a hole filled with tech expense and increased labor effort.
My Takeaway
To be a part of real transformation, we must couple long-haul technology-driven culture and operational change with actual quick wins.
For many parts of the revenue cycle, return on investment should be fairly immediate and lend itself decisively to helping solve the labor crisis or the morass of complexity that dominates our processes. ROI should be binary, it happened, or it didn't, and it should be constantly trackable.
Partnership doesn't mean you pay while hoping it works somewhere down the road. If you're paying for it, it should work right away. Partnership means holding one another accountable for the fundamental change necessary to create a more profitable and labor-efficient system of being paid for the critical services healthcare provides.
But how…
Automation in the Healthcare Landscape
The concept of automation has become a linchpin in the healthcare industry's ability to evolve, and the conference reaffirmed this notion. There were many conversations around the types of automations to use, where people come into play, etc. While some still cling to the idea that "bots are the answer", providers are quick to acknowledge their limitations with relatively complex tasks and their inability to fully automate workflows. If you've tried to automate with bots, you likely agree.
While they have their place, bots are notorious for being fragile, maintenance-heavy, and slow. Not to mention they don't handle change easily, and we all know change is the only constant (often by design in the case of payers) in healthcare.
My Takeaway
True database-level automation MUST be part of the equation. While I would reiterate that bots do have a place in a comprehensive automation strategy, we will achieve our potential only through data-level automation, operating across all transactions simultaneously and capable of a dialogue that transforms data to advance tasks and processes throughout the revenue cycle. Whether through available APIs or scripting, true automation manages a changing landscape of payer rules, processes, and vendor upgrades to continue seamlessly advancing the revenue cycle regardless of encounter type. This is where transformation will be found and authentic return on investment achieved.
BUT…where should we start?
Healthcare is really (really) great about defining problems…just not so great at solving them.
Alternate headline…We are awash in data with barely a solution insight (see what I did there?!).
Again in both panel and table discussions, there was a great lament at the lack of data that helps providers identify opportunities for impactful automation.
We already know denials are high, AR over 90 is a problem, and self-pay balances are challenging to collect; that inefficiency and lack of staffing create a risk to aging balances. We already know we have too little staff and too much to do. What we don't know is how to prioritize the actions and processes that will create the greatest impact. There are dozens (hundreds) of places to turn for vendor assistance to, with great visual acuity, identify the same macro-level challenges healthcare has faced for the last several decades with little ability to remedy. In one of our breakouts, we discussed the claim of every analytics provider to provide "actionable insights" capable of guiding resources to process change and efficiency. The problem is that when there are no internal resources to take on the challenge and the desire to recycle the same consulting "process and cost restructuring" has grown thin, where do we turn? At the risk of repeating the oft-used definition of insanity, repeating the same strategies that have failed to create sustainable change is foolish.
My Takeaway
Data should define the root cause of the problem. It should connect the analysis directly to the actions necessary to provide the solution. Identifying sources of labor inefficiency (often attributable to shortages) and unnecessary delays in the reimbursement journey should produce immediate opportunities to direct true automation and almost immediate improvement in labor efficiency and AR acceleration. Data should continuously measure performance improvement, and automation should sustain that improvement into the future without regression to the prior state. With data at the center of transformation and data-level automations as a significant part of the solution, we can close the gap in performance by reducing the labor burden and improving financial outcomes.
SparkChange stands apart by charting a visionary trajectory. Our proactive stance and emphasis on true automations are unique. We understand that sometimes bots are necessary, and there's no replacement for fantastic team members. However, true database-level automations are crucial, and your team should focus on areas where you can't automate and where you genuinely need them.
Ok… let's wrap it up.
I walked away both hopeful and incredibly energized.
Fueled by initial disappointment in early automation, healthcare is still ravenously hungry for a difference maker.
The energy I feel (along with an incredible sense of urgency) is the feedback we receive at SparkChange from our clients, who generate tangible benefits from true automation.
Driven by data-centered strategies, we've avoided many pitfalls plaguing early automation attempts and have created genuine, sustained benefits in labor efficiency and AR acceleration. We're diving headfirst into reinventing revenue cycle.
Challenges? Bring 'em on. We're not just saying we'll tackle your issues – we're actually doing it. We're going to let the data do the talking. Data is our ultimate secret weapon. It's not just about "hitting numbers"; it's the driving force behind our direction, decisions, and undeniable ROI that we bring our clients. So, get ready because we're on a mission to spark some change. With data as our compass, we're propelling the healthcare revenue cycle into a new era.
I'm grateful to KLAS and their Healthcare Revenue Cycle Summit. It was a real eye-opener and a booster shot of industry passion, and I would offer a shout-out to all the healthcare rockstars driving us forward. Your dedication fuels our fire, and with the knowledge we've gained from this conference, we're geared up to make some game-changing moves in the healthcare automation arena. Let's set a spark together!
