It’s clear that many healthcare systems and practices are navigating a challenging financial period. Organizations are under pressure to find ways to reduce costs and increase profitability, and more of them are taking a serious look at outsourcing their revenue cycle functions.
Some providers have been hesitant to work with outside vendors, worried they might lose control over operations or decision-making. But partnering with a revenue cycle organization results in quite the opposite. It’s a transparent, collaborative relationship built around shared goals — one that always keeps the best interests of the healthcare provider front and center.
An RCM partner can be a true extension of your revenue cycle team.
A revenue cycle partner should be seen as a supportive group that helps optimize workflows and create a smoother experience for staff and patients alike. That means giving teams more time to focus on delivering quality care, reducing errors and delays and easing the frustrations that often come with the billing process.
Explore three major advantages that an RCM partnership can bring:
1. Revenue cycle specialization to boost performance
Instead of hiring one or two people to handle everything from coding to collections, imagine having access to an entire team of revenue cycle experts with the skills, processes, and technology to improve financial results and the patient experience.
Revenue partners offer specialists in every area (coding, value-based care adherence, payer contracting, etc.) who know how to chase down every dollar due. They can also bring advanced technology that creates automated workflows and smooth hand-offs between digital tools and staff.
For example, R1’s powerful rules engine can analyze claims and automatically correct information to prevent denials. And when complex cases do arise, those claims are quickly escalated to on-staff specialists who know exactly how to appeal to payers.
This workflow, incorporating specialized people, processes and technology, saves an incredible amount of time and money while achieving a high level of standardization that reduces common, time-consuming administrative errors
R1 has found that its comprehensive partnership approach to the revenue cycle can net organizations a 10-20% increase in reimbursements.
2. Flexibility to reduce costs
Fixed costs like salaries and benefits are heavy financial burdens, as healthcare providers deal with rising operational and labor expenses more than ever. With an RCM partnership, there are no fixed costs to manage. Providers simply pay a small fee per patient claim, and total RCM costs scale up or down based on claim volume. This flexible cost structure helps protect organizations from unexpected shifts — such as rising supply expenses or a drop in patient visits — since they’re not locked into the high overhead costs of in-house operations.
Put simply: when volume goes down, so do RCM fees, helping protect the bottom line.
3. Scale to support ongoing growth
Another key benefit of partnering with an RCM organization is access to scale. With the right partner, practices can leverage technology, services and expertise to standardize a wide range of revenue cycle tasks.
Through tools like automation and rules engines with proprietary technologies, partners can help practices identify process gaps, make corrections, and complete work faster. And having an experienced team providing consistent support is invaluable, especially during times of change.
For example, when one R1 client acquired a new practice, their focus was on onboarding new physicians. Because R1 managed claims and patient collections seamlessly during the transition, the practice was able to focus on growth without compromising day-to-day financial performance or patient satisfaction.
Revenue cycle partnerships can deliver long-term strategic benefits. While some providers might eventually build some of these revenue cycle functionality capabilities in-house, doing so would require major technology investments and time spent recruiting specialized talent.
Right now, providers need skilled partners who can deliver speed to value — stepping in on day one to manage RCM functions effectively, drive results fast, and give healthcare teams the time and focus they need to move their business forward.
