The adage you are either moving forward or falling behind rings trues given the level of competition today and rate of change itself.

The pandemic has triggered a need to conduct a strategic review for many providers. You likely resumed doing elective surgeries in June of 2020, but volumes may still be lagging just as ED visits took a huge hit during the pandemic.Providers have recovered some of their losses, but the recovery has been uneven depending on the type and size of the hospital, its location, and its unique make-up.

An effective Strategic Advisory almost always begins with an in-depth operational assessment to stop the immediate slippage in operating margins. Providers typically focus on improving staff productivity, reducing supply chain costs, trimming support functions, and even adjusting the retail strategy.

Right-sizing staff is never easy, especially in a reboot, and being able to measure productivity is a challenge, however a thorough review and analysis of the internal process for each patient touch point is effective.

Group purchasing has taken all of the low-hanging fruit to reduce costs, so this drill-down must be more in-depth in looking for cost reductions in the supply chain.

Targeting support staffing for reductions can be problematic given the need to enhance the efficacy of internal processes and the patient process in a reboot, however a thorough review of each department’s staffing, process, and metrics does this.

The federal mandate for pricing transparency is finally here and with it are new opportunities that deliver short-term and longer-term value.

Now is a good time for a strategic charge master reconfiguration and a review of the hospital’s pricing strategy. Reducing charges and inflated contractual allowances will make charges more defensible, rational, and transparent. Also, it will improve the ratio of cost-to-charges, thereby beginning to restore the charge master to its original function as a revenue-generator.

A smart turnaround plan focuses on several things in the revenue cycle, including making sure charge capture is efficient, coding is compliant, and Medical Records is up-to-the-task.

It’s important to review each touch point of the revenue cycle to identify weaknesses and fix them. This always includes checking the following:

• Billings
• Remittance advice and the cash pipeline
• Contracts and denials
• Weekly cash flow analyses and projections
• Payer payment histories and trends

The new fiscal challenges brought by the pandemic are replete with opportunity if providers can measure the net revenue impact of each change, including fixing any RCM touch point that is lagging in efficiency as well as initiating a new growth strategy.

Focusing on new efficiencies in process and management is essential, but so is taking advantage of market change to implement new marketing differentiators and grow new revenue.

Growing new net revenue requires a comprehensive review and analysis of all revenue drivers, a trend analysis of all patient charge and payer data, and the use of predictive analytics to project the net impact of potential change by service line and department.

We do this.

Companion goals include strengthening brand acceptance and reach, and ensuring the digital platform becomes a robust patient funnel.

Reputation speaks to brand strength and patient outcomes help determine this. The patient experience reflects the efficacy of each touch point of care, but begins with how easy it was for consumers to obtain useful information and access care.

Each of these overarching strategies touches on growing social media testimonials and referrals, and reinforcing community loyalty.

An effective Strategic Advisory should facilitate a crisp operational assessment for cost-cutting measures that stop the immediate slippage in operating margins. It should also include a new growth strategy to ensure fiscal sustainability

This always includes a fresh market analysis of brand strength by service line and department because potential change never occurs in a vacuum. We look for new marketing differentiators, too, because they often become significant new revenue-producers.

We use predictive analytics to project the net revenue impact of any potential change.

Our Strategic Advisory provides the kind of actionable intelligence you need to reduce costs and grow new revenue. You need both in a dynamic health care market.

See what Q can do for you!