When looking for an eligibility advocate, what are your criteria? What do you want them to do for you? What business goals does your healthcare organization seek to achieve by hiring one? At DECO Recovery Management, we believe that an eligibility advocate should be able to work on the front lines with your staff, make sure your patients get the care they deserve and help you maintain a high-quality revenue stream at the same time.
Capture Rate
What we call capture rate is simply the percentage of patients whose health and financial information we are able to collect. In doing this, we’re able to keep track of them and help streamline the reimbursement process. Obtaining accurate patient information is a vital part of determining healthcare eligibility and managing an effective revenue cycle.
We take great pride in our ability to capture and keep track of patient information. We desire to do this for every single patient, but since that’s not always a viable option, our goal and standard is a minimum capture rate of 94 percent. Without this, we can’t determine eligibility or keep track of the patient’s health and financial history. So we take the steps necessary to make sure we get it. We visit patients in-house seven days a week, at night and on weekends. We provide them with a comforting, respectful and reassuring presence, while also doing what we can to ensure that your healthcare organization is reimbursed for the treatment it has rendered.
Field Visits
We think an eligibility advocate should be able to work as an extension of your healthcare organization. Their job is to help make life easier for your staff and get into the trenches to get work done. If an eligibility advocate is not working on-site with your staff, they will not be as effective at their job as they could be.
At DECO, we make sure our eligibility advocates are capable of handling the pressures and commitment of a healthcare environment. Whether that means getting on the computers and phones or visiting patients to get more information, we make working on-site a priority. Only then can we leverage our skills and professionalism to get the job done and help your healthcare organization get reimbursed for the care it provides.
Cycle Times
A good eligibility advocate should be able to cut down on the amount of time it takes for your healthcare organization to get paid for the services it renders. They should have expert knowledge of the ins and outs of healthcare finance and regulations. They should also be dedicated enough to work through problems with your staff and own both mistakes and successes. Without a healthy revenue cycle, you risk bad debt piling up. This results in not being able to afford to pay for advances in technology, increased staff, training, treatment and every other aspect of healthcare that you need to be successful.
At DECO, our eligibility advocates are highly trained and skilled at what they do. They are up to date on the latest regulations and technologies and can help you grease the wheels of your revenue cycle management processes. We even have our own fully customizable computer system dedicated to managing your revenue cycle management processes, and our staff is well-versed in its use. Beyond that, with an intimate knowledge of healthcare practices and insurance policies, our people can help provide smart solutions where they are needed so that you can actually increase your revenue.
Training
Any good staff needs to be trained. Without learning new techniques and working intentionally to overcome challenges, they won’t get better at what they do. They will get stagnant and fail to work effectively. When you invest in the education of your staff, you invest in the future of your organization.
We believe this wholeheartedly at DECO. We don’t want to replace your staff. We want to help them. We want to work alongside them as partners to get things done. We want to help train them so they can work better both independently and as a team. Workflow becomes smoother when everyone is on the same page. We can help provide that experience for your healthcare organization. We can train your staff to be better at what they do because we, too, are constantly learning how to be better at what we do.
If your revenue cycle management is in need of a change or update, DECO Recovery Management is here to help you do it. We care about your success and making sure you are able to provide the best care possible to your patients. Contact us today!
