Hospitals Are Shifting To Outpatient Services: What This Means For The Hospital Revenue Cycle
You can expect major changes to hospital billing this year thanks to the pandemic and shifts in patient behavior – but one of the most important that hospital and health system leaders should pay attention to is changes in use of outpatient services. An analysis from the Guidehouse Center for Health Insights and Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) addressed hospital and health system leaders including CEOs, CFOs, COOs, and other executives from 182 hospitals for insights into what they expect in the near future. It found that a full 95% of the executives surveyed expected higher outpatient volumes in 2023. As much as 40% of leaders expected increases of 10% or more. But this shift isn’t happening on its own and those in charge of hospital coding and billing should pay attention. 41% of the leaders surveyed expected lower inpatient volumes at the same time, with 17% expecting that drop to be 10% or higher [1]. What’s Behind the Shift in Hospital Revenue Cycle