Why More Hospitals are Outsourcing Revenue Cycle Management

Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) is a lucrative segment in the healthcare industry that is not likely to slow down in the near future. In fact, all signs point to more growth and expansion in the next five years or so. According to data from the MicroMarket Monitor, the RCM market is expected to grow at a compounded annual rate of 7.2 percent from 2014 to 2019. Furthermore, Black Book says that it is estimated to be currently worth about $7.7 billion, and has the potential to grow to nearly $10 billion by the year 2016.

This bodes well for outsourcing companies that specialize in RCM. Currently, hospitals that outsource their RCM services have felt the favorable impact of doing so, in the form of positive bottom line results. They are reported to be averaging a growth of 5.3 percent in revenue increases for hospitals with less than 200 beds, while larger hospitals reported an even higher growth in 2014. Black Book Research studies found that about 45 percent of struggling hospitals are said to be seriously considering adopting outsourcing solutions for the RCM tasks.

Hospitals are looking to outsourcing RCM functions mainly because of “its critical importance and significant challenges associated with managing internal functionalities of hospitals and clinics, in an efficient and cost-effective manner”, the MicroMarket Monitor study further stated.

Managing Partner of Black Book Market Research Doug Brown said, “After carefully identifying and assessing their organizations’ core competencies, hundreds of hospitals have moved to outsourced RCM services over the last two years. It has been no surprise that many overwhelmed hospital leaders have realized that RCM isn’t their organization’s core competency, and have turned to large end-to-end outsourcing firms for RCM to refocus on patient care and clinical service delivery.”

RCM is an important administrative function in the healthcare industry, one that affects how claims, payment, and revenues management will be handled by staff. Automating this function will not only be a cost effective solution, but will also help healthcare providers perform their main function of patient care in an effective and efficient manner.

Originally published at www.infinithealthcare.com.