Top 10 Tech Trends: Working Together on Revenue Cycle

Efficiency is a key goal of St. Luke’s Boise Medical Center in Idaho, according to Sharon Litchfield, the organization’s systems manager, cash management. The hospital is currently undergoing a system-wide transition to an integrated EHR (supplied by Epic Systems Corp.), using lean strategies to eliminate waste, she says. Since starting the project two years ago, for example, the hospital has combined 14 different practice management systems from its clinics into a single billing office. One major revenue cycle challenge, in her view, has been to make sure that the correct patient information is captured at the beginning of the admissions process, and to eliminate late charges. “If you get things right at the front end, it eliminates a lot of work at the back end,” she says.

Litchfield says her director has challenged her team to evaluate productivity through metrics. Part of the process was to examine what their vision was for revenue cycle management, and consider it from patient check-in, through the entire value chain through discharge. “We look at imperatives for our whole department, where we felt we needed to work, and then collaborate with other departments,” she says. She views the clinical staff as partners in driving quality and efficiency. Overall, she says, the hospital is undergoing a culture shift away from silos and toward collaboration with two goals: a better patient experience and better processes through teamwork.