Cash Flow & The ICD-10 Implementation

Take a moment to review cost-cutting measures for operating expenses. This may include negotiating new terms with key suppliers and reevaluating inventory levels of various supply accounts. Working with your third party payer can help ensure minimal disruption to coding processes. Several third party payers already have a contingency plan in place in the event of disruption.

It is good practice for healthcare organizations to have three months of cash reserves in place. Doing so will help you address unknown contingencies. Also consider speaking with your bank about your credit line.

Proactive organizations have always managed receivables aggressively both by minimizing bad debt and reducing denied payments. Some are also revisiting the process used to collect payments, which is causing many to move forward in collecting copayments and deductibles at the time of the patient visit. This helps to ensure proactive management of accounts receivables.

Ultimately, organizations should start training on the implementation now. Doctors, coders, and staff should understand the new processes several months in advance. Coders should start coding in both ICD-9 and ICD-10 for the most common diagnostic codes and providers should start documenting to ICD-10 standards as soon as possible. Doing so will build efficiencies into your billing process.

Although implementation has been delayed, proper planning allows for plenty of time to mitigate the effects of payment disruption and delays.

Are you ready to learn more about ICD-10 Implementation? Attend the next meeting of the Independent Physicians Network in Gainesville, Florida to learn more. Click here to review the entire implementation.

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