Only one out of four revenue cycle management companies are not planning on making any permanent changes to their operations as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the results of a survey that were released this month. One-third of those companies are, for example, planning to allow more individuals to work from home permanently.
The survey was commissioned by Alpha Health and was conducted through the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). Nearly 600 chief financial officers participated in the survey, which took place during the summer.
Breaking down the results, 36% of health systems and 31% of hospitals are planning on allowing more revenue cycle managers to work from home permanently, while only 18% of health systems and 28% of hospitals are not planning any changes to their operations.
“A very good majority are very happy working from home and have found that balance and want to continue to do so,” said Colette Lasack, VP of revenue cycle operations at The University of Kansas Health System, in a published report.
Another interesting data point from the study revealed that smaller RCM operations — those with less than $500 million in revenue — were more likely to say they are not making any permanent changes. More than one-third of companies in that demographic said so, compared with 23% of companies in the $500 million to $1 billion bracket, and 7% of companies in the $1 billion to $10 billion bracket.
“COVID-19 has placed healthcare organizations under tremendous financial pressure, driving a need for increased efficiency and cost restructuring. At the same time, revenue cycle teams are facing unpredictable and volatile workloads,” said Malinka Walaliyadde, co-founder and CEO of Alpha Health, in a statement
