Mercy Health Partners of Southwest Ohio Achieves Financial and Patient Satisfaction Goals Using HTP RevRunner®
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New technology results in net revenue increase of $5.7 million.
Columbus, OH October 31, 2007 -- During a recent HFMA audio webcast, Cincinnati-based Mercy Health Partners-Southwest Ohio (Mercy) revealed that the health system has achieved a $5.7 million assumed increase in net revenue for 2007 after implementing new revenue cycle management processes, facilitated by the HTP RevRunner® suite.
Shari Bailey, Senior Director of Revenue Cycle for Mercy, detailed how the health system partnered with HTP earlier this year in order to achieve revenue cycle goals. HTP RevRunner allowed Mercy to more effectively carry out its mission as a provider to the community's poor and underserved by helping to find financial assistance coverage and determine eligibility for charity care.
"Given a significant increase in our self-pay patient population over the past year, we were looking for ways to more accurately and efficiently verify insurance eligibility while identifying true charity care cases early on in the patient access process," Bailey said. "We hoped the increased efficiencies would also improve Mercy's overall financial health, allowing us to extend our mission and better serve our community."
Following new revenue management best practices, Mercy is transforming its revenue cycle model from the common post-service patient accounting process to a pre-service patient access operation. In accordance with these best practices, Mercy implemented a point-of-service (POS) collections effort and set new goals for decreased bad debt as percent of gross charges, and an increased number of patients qualifying for charity care. The health system also focused on improving patient satisfaction by explaining financial obligations earlier in the process for scheduled services, rather than surprising a patient 30-45 days after a procedure with an unexpected bill in the mail.
Through consistent application of the new revenue cycle management best practices, enabled by HTP's RevRunner technology platform, Mercy can now efficiently identify patient insurance eligibility, offer financial assistance and counseling and proactively estimate the patient's financial responsibility pre-service.
As Bailey discussed during the webcast, results have been dramatic.
o A 17% decrease in self-pay patients at admission in July 2007 vs. the prior month
o A significant increase in Medicaid admissions for July 2007, equating to $200,000 in cash acceleration
o Mercy found $350,000 in charity care that would have previously been written off as bad debt in August 2007
o Point-of-service and pre-service collections improved by $1.7 million from May 2006
o April 2007; post-service self-pay collections are up $1.3 million over 2006
o Found insurance on self-pay balances averaging $400,000 in gross charges per month
Overall, Mercy Health System can assume a $5.7 million increase in net revenue for 2007and a $4.9 million improvement to its bottom line.
"The ROI of this initiative, including related staffing and technology investments, has been six to one," Bailey said. "The HTP technology platform has helped redefine our revenue cycle process, allowing us to better extend Mercy's mission."
About HTP, Inc.:
With its powerful combination of industry expertise and technology development, HTP is transforming the way the healthcare industry does business. HTP's innovative solutions enable the reliable exchange and utilization of healthcare information for hospitals and health plans across the country, improving efficiency, profitability and patient satisfaction. Notable customers include Catholic Health Partners, The Midland Group, Resurrection Healthcare, OhioHealth, Redlands Community Hospital, Condell Medical Center, The Ohio State University Health System and the Utah Health Information Network-the nation's first successful RHIO.
Learn more at htp-inc.com.
Press Contact:
Stacy Wood
Company Name: Marketing Works
Phone: 614-540-5520
Website: htp-inc.com
