Survey: Healthcare finance execs expect to outsource collections

Aside from collections, the Peer60 report found 25 percent of providers plan to outsource contract management.

As health system chief finance officers adopt alternate payment models, many are planning to outsource key components of the revenue cycle process such as billing and collections to keep costs in check, according to a new report.

According to survey firm Peer60, 46 percent of financial healthcare executives polled said their organization plans to outsource collections, an interesting stat that shows the scope of the responsibility organizations now hold when it comes to collecting payments. The rise in high-deductible plans has placed more pressure on healthcare providers to collect directly from patients, a process that can have rough consequences if handled poorly.

[Also: More on the Peer60 report]

Just this week, Banner-University Medical Center Tucson earned some bad press when reports surfaced that it had canceled a cancer patient’s surgery because she didn’t pay half of her out-of-pocket costs prior to the procedure. Banner has said the event was out of sync with their policies, but whether the fallout continues is yet to be seen.

Aside from collections, the Peer60 report found 25 percent of providers plan to outsource contract management while 23 percent said they would outsource denial management.

When it comes to the shift to value-based reimbursement, 36 percent of finance execs polled said they would have to trim their capital spending to avoid potential losses tied to the new payment models.

That could spell trouble for some revenue cycle vendors if they aren’t showing the value of their systems. About 21 percent said they would cut vendors that aren’t showing return on investment.

As for the doomsday crowd, 14 percent surveyed said they expected these new payment models to bankrupt their organizations.

Here’s the full report:

Twitter: @HenryPowderly