Soon, 2023 is going to end, but the efforts of medical billing services to perform exceptionally will not. Let’s have a look at 2023; How has this year gone so far? At first glance, we can see how effectively the healthcare sector is bracing itself for new trends. And all these trends are making 2023 a transformative year for medical billing companies in USA. The 2023 year is further marked by consolidation and innovation in healthcare overall. Healthcare billing services have adopted new operating methodologies to streamline workflow.
In this blog, we’ll examine a few of the trends that are reshaping the healthcare industry. Also, we will be discussing the way medical billing services are transforming the revenue cycle. But before this, let’s have a quick overview of the industry’s condition in the past year.
A Quick Throwback to Healthcare’s Condition in the Past
COVID-19 has gone so far, but its lingering effects have made 2022 a financial nightmare for providers. Not only providers but all related professionals and medical billing services have been influenced. The situation has become even worse due to inflation and rising healthcare supply costs. Overall, all this has wreaked havoc on providers and healthcare billing services.
2023 Trends and Betterment of Medical Billing Services
Well, the medical billing outsourcing companies and in-house facilities are now in action mode. They are trying to tackle all such issues. For now, they are grappling with two pressing concerns, mainly:
- Protecting the RCM (to eliminate revenue losses)
- Improving productivity with limited resources
Unfortunately, bad luck invades the efforts of medical billing services and providers at times. But still, the 2023 trend in the healthcare industry adds hope for better conditions in the future.
Let’s roll down and explore the new trends in medical billing services.
Enhancing Financial Efficiency
Poor finances in healthcare practices never let them grow until they find a suitable management strategy. Owing to inflation, escalating supply costs, and declining reimbursements, it is hard to overcome the situation. In the meantime, providers helplessly depend on their medical billing services to do some wonders. They can improve the financial situation through denial prevention and timely revenue collection. For this, we need collaborative efforts from clinical staff and teams handling RCM processes. This strategic approach can boost the revenue potential by up to 15–20%. So, healthcare practices are more interested in improving their finances. And they have done whatever is in their power to accomplish it.
Automating RCM Operation (Leveraging AI, ML, and RPA)
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have redefined the RCM. Nonetheless, practices have shifted to electronic health records (EHRs) from the old paper system. Robotic process automation has been a game changer so far, minimizing human errors. We no longer need human input for the tiring, repetitive tasks of RCM and other authorization processes.
Advanced medical billing services have adopted automated billing software that strictly adheres to compliance. Meanwhile, autonomous coding technologies are now mature. Soon, we will be using them for the practical coding tasks of medical billing outsourcing companies.
More or less, all these technological advancements share the same key objective. They collectively empower the delivery of value-based care while combating labor shortage issues. Remote healthcare facilities in the form of telemedicine are now practically implemented. Outsourcing medical billing services has covered the billing needs of telehealth care services. So, overall, the healthcare industry has paved the way for a resilient and prosperous future this way.
Investing in Healthcare: The Changing Landscape of Consolidation and Specialized Services”
More Healthcare Investments in Consolidation and Specialized Services
Meeting growing consumer demands while delivering a high-quality workforce is another challenge. In 2023 and the past few years, private equity firms have focused on investing in certain areas for good. To satisfy the needs of aging populations, practices now focus more on different services. For instance, home care, DME services, remote patient monitoring devices, etc.
Urgent care chains, behavioral and mental health clinics, and physical therapy clinics are all equally involved. They are trying to implement a value-based care system that promotes long-term wellness.
Through consolidation initiatives, suppliers are emerging as full solutions within the revenue cycle area. Furthermore, in this dynamic market, specialty providers specializing in clinical documentation improvement, utilization management, and analytics are gaining popularity.
Cybersecurity for Safeguarding Healthcare Data
As cybercrime continues to rise, cybersecurity has emerged as a critical area of investment for organizations across several industries, including healthcare. Because of the popularity of remote work, remote patient monitoring, telehealth, and telemedicine, the healthcare industry is particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks. Healthcare practices are increasing their cybersecurity spending in anticipation of these threats.
Big Tech’s Entrance into Healthcare
Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, and Apple are advanced technology companies. Such companies are now more interested in addressing healthcare’s cost and quality challenges. The involvement of these large technology corporations in healthcare is likely to grow in the future, with a more important role envisaged during the next decade. They are presenting applicable solutions to fortify medical billing services, boosting the practice’s growth. Consequently, practices have invested in certain areas as well. For instance, some are mentioned below:
- Developing cloud platforms
- Investing in niche technologies
- Creating wearable devices
- Promoting telehealth platforms
Conclusion
Each of these developments will have a significant impact on healthcare delivery, career paths, and revenue cycle management. The workload on medical billing services is increasing although we have more advanced billing software available. However, following the 2023 trend, we observe the emergence of new enterprises. They will be tackling various aspects of the healthcare industry, just like medical billing outsourcing companies in USA do. By remaining updated about these imminent shifts, healthcare stakeholders may plan ahead of time and make well-informed investments, ensuring that their revenue cycles are ready for future challenges and possibilities.
Keep reading blogs at QPP MIPS to stay updated with future trends in healthcare billing services.
