Hospital Execs Prepare for OR Boost
Nearly half (49 percent) of hospital executives reported their operating room case volume increased in the past year, while 73 percent expect it to grow during the next year three years, according to a new survey from software firm Surgical Information Systems.
The results suggest that the growth in OR caseloads and associated costs will be fueled by both inpatient and outpatient procedures. Out of more than 142 hospital executives, 39 percent see inpatient OR case volume growing in the next three years, and 91 percent see outpatient OR case volume increasing.
Such growth was experienced firsthand by Ogden Regional Medical Center in Salt Lake City, which faced more demand for surgeries; it already was performing about 6,500 procedures a year, according to an announcement released last week.
To improve OR efficiency, the hospital updated its scheduling process and created an OR governance committee to develop policies and oversee the OR schedule. Thanks to the changes, Ogden Regional increased available open OR time from 11 percent to 20 percent and saw improved on-time starts for surgeries and room turnover between procedures.
Like Ogden Regional, hospitals must adequately prepare themselves for a surge in OR volume, especially as delays and inefficiencies can hurt their bottom lines. For example, a study published last summer in the Surgery journal found that longer gap times (from the time of case booking to surgery start time) led to a 39 percent jump in costs to the hospital.
To learn more:
– read the survey statement
– here’s the hospital announcement
August 2, 2012 | By Alicia Caramenico
Read more: Hospital execs prepare for OR boost – FierceHealthcare
Medical Lockbox Services, Not All Providers are Created Equal
Working with a financial institution for healthcare payment processing via a medical lockbox is an excellent method to eliminate inefficient in-house manual processes for healthcare providers. Providers can typically reduce overhead, improve collections in receivables, decrease bad debt/write-offs, reduce fraud and eliminate paper in the office. While the benefits can be impressive, selecting the right vendor can often be a confusing task.
While the basic concept of a lockbox does commoditize the service, a medical lockbox service via a financial institution can easily be differentiated by the following important features:
- How does the provider or billing company receive lockbox contents? Are the original checks and explanation of benefits (EOB) returned to the provider via paper, copied or provided via an online electronic archive?
- Are you given access to an electronic record of claims and payments with the ability to audit and reconcile the two?
- How long are documents archived and available for retrieval or viewing? Does this meet you records retention requirements by state law?
- Does your service also report on electronic funds transfer (EFTs) that are deposited into your bank account? What is the method of notification.
- What is the expected turnaround time for each day’s lockbox contents? 24 hours, 48 hours, Saturday processing, etc.
- Does the financial institution provide a solution for documents that do not come through the lockbox? Can you scan EOB’s and upload them while the P.O. Box transition is in process or if the piece came to another address?
- Does the bank offer interest on the funds in your lockbox account?
- For patient payments, can the bank create a daily data file that contains the patient account number and the payment amount for each transaction to be electronically processed into your software system, eliminating the need to rekeying the payments?
- Is the solution Cloud-based? What is their disaster recovery procedures? Is the service HIPAA compliant?
- What fees are standard for the lockbox service and which are additional expenses?
Understanding the options available is an important first step to selecting a vendor that best fits your practice’s needs. If you need additional help in determining which vendor is best, ask for references and further demonstrations. Selecting a new vendor takes time but, in the end, thorough examination of all available options will help to maximize value from your medical lockbox provider.
