Contributor: Brad Mintun
“Do more with less,” is the mantra of consultants and the marching orders of senior executives. In today’s world of increased competition and compressed margins, companies want methods to improve efficiency. Automation is the “low-hanging fruit,” often offering “wins” for both the business and technical teams.... read more
vice president, product management, AvantGard Payment Services, SunGard’s corporate liquidity business
Contributor: Matthew Dragiff
The current economic climate is forcing companies to pursue lean operations as strongly as ever. It’s a message that we hear at SunGard, and that you may hear from your employer as well. Lean operations are driven by the understanding that only the most efficient organizations survive. The latest issue of Financial Operations Matters, published by the Institute of Financial Operations contained the article, “Are you ready for lean A/P? 4 Trends to watch in 2012.” As the article highlights, lean A/P is the outcome of analyzing existing business processes, uncovering inefficiencies, redefining processes and applying technology where appropriate to support automated processing. Best practices at companies with the lowest A/P costs typically include: a high degree of automation, end-to-end integration of A/P with purchasing, movement to electronic payments, embracing a self-service model for suppliers, and maximizing revenue from card rebate programs.... read more
Contributor: Roy Massie
Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a rule that providers do not have to achieve meaningful use of Electronic Health Records in order to participate in an Accountable Care Organization. Providers have strong incentives to implement EHR, but they are not required in order to be in an ACO network. Along with their EHR incentives, providers have a lot of other technology hurdles in front of them (e.g. 5010/ICD-10). At my doctor’s office, I see some new information technology use at the front desk and occasionally in the exam room. But moreover, I still see rows and rows of color-coded paper folders holding patient records, stacks of folders in a daily queue and paper exchanging hands for receipts, scripts and other key transactions. In healthcare, as in most parts of our society, paper is an old and dying king, but it is still king.... read more
Contributor: Roy Massie
Someone else may have minor surgery, but when it’s me, any surgery is major surgery… I think we can all relate to that feeling of a double standard when it comes to our personal health, or even our personal finances. And health plans are not immune to such thinking when it comes to their claims payments. Reviewing a payment decision over and over again can sometimes be more expensive than the actual value of a claim itself. The result – health plans often incur processing costs in excess of the value of the claim being reviewed. Though many know at some level that this yields a net loss, some insist on the comfort level such redundancies provide before any payment is made… regardless of its value.... read more
Contributor: Don Canning
When speaking with Healthcare Payer’s Chief Operating Officers on a recent customer listening tour, we learned that many achieve industry benchmark standards roughly between 70-80% for claims auto-adjudication. Conversely, when evaluating overall satisfaction by large employers, they experience a decreased benchmark by an average of five percentage points, from 64% in 2008 to 59% in 20091.... read more
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