MEDITECH’s 6.1 Revenue Cycle Drives Efficiency at Anderson Regional

MERIDIAN, MS – December 8, 2016 — Anderson Regional Medical Center was one of several organizations to share their financial success story during MEDITECH’s recent Revenue Cycle Summit. The event highlighted strategies our customers can take to maintain profitability while navigating industry regulations and new reimbursement models.

“In this day and age of electronic health records, it is important that we work very closely with our EHR vendor,” said Anderson’s Revenue Cycle Director Kevin Adams. “MEDITECH has been an exceptional business partner and the Revenue Cycle Summit was a great extension of that relationship.”

With a renewed focus on revenue cycle and the implementation of MEDITECH’s 6.1 platform in April 2015, Anderson Regional has cut their A/R days from 95 down to 47, while also reducing lost revenue by 90 percent. All the while, the 300-bed hospital has remained in the top 2 percent nationally for patient safety and experience, according to Healthgrades.

Adams detailed three of the biggest benefits he’s seen from their EHR–improved efficiency, transparency, and accountability.

“The transparency of the data within the Financial Status Desktop has driven numerous efficiencies in our processes. We are now able to identify and react more quickly to trends–such as insurance denials–that can have a negative impact on our A/R days,” he said.

“With parameters built into the EHR, we are encouraging physicians to document medical necessity requirements, while at the same time providing them the Information Systems team support that is needed if they have concerns. This is yet another example of how we have been successful in our reduction of denials.”

Using the EHR’s leadership reports, executives at Anderson are accurately monitoring their staff’s progress on productivity goals. “We’re able to see the daily tasks associated to each biller and collector, so we can hold them accountable,” Adams said.

“Having the right tools, for the right people, at the right time means we can clearly set our performance standards for each team. MEDITECH’s Revenue Cycle solution has made a huge difference for us in that regard.”

Anderson has also seen significant improvements to their credit accounts. “Two years ago, we had over $7 million in credit balances, representing over 7,000 accounts. Today, our credit balances are down to just $578,000 across 725 accounts,” stated Adams. “MEDITECH has also helped our facility to consolidate bad debt, and allow for automated monthly account reconciliation between our facility and our two vendors.”

Those attending HIMSS17 can learn more about Anderson Regional’s strategies for driving efficiency throughout the revenue cycle at the HIMSS Revenue Cycle Solutions Summit, next February in Orlando, FL.