Medical practices are learning to sweat the small stuff. From patient experience to evidence-based medicine, the trend is for medical leaders to pay attention to the small details when wanting to make improvements. Even minor optimizations can result in the better deployment of resources and ultimately produce a better experience for the patient in some form or another. What is often overlooked is the impact strong business partners can have on the growth of a medical group. In this article, we tell the story of a partnership between Advanced Urology Institute (AUI) and CareCloud and how the two organizations have worked closely together to produce accelerated results. We dig deeper into key differences between a “good-enough” partner and one who is ready to supercharge your operations.
A powerful partnership relationship starts and ends with trust and collaboration. With 22 locations across Florida and Georgia, AUI stands as one of the largest urology groups in the nation. CareCloud demonstrated the strength of their capabilities by successfully implementing a comprehensive practice management system for AUI.
The search for a new technology partner was not an easy and hurried process. After the previous vendor failed to listen to the concerns of AUI and offer the flexibility they wanted, it was time for a change. The medical group was willing to work with the vendor to course-correct; however, the legacy vendor ignored their concerns, opening the search for a new partner. CareCloud was carefully chosen after a rigorous vetting process that involved over 20 team members of AUI and an extensive due diligence process from a potential practice looking to merge with the medical group.
The search for a new technology partner was not an easy and hurried process. After the previous vendor failed to listen to the concerns of AUI and offer the flexibility they really wanted, they knew they needed a change. The medical group was willing to work with the vendor to course-correct; however, the legacy vendor ignored their concerns, opening the search for a new partner. CareCloud was carefully chosen after a rigorous vetting process that involved over 20 team members of AUI and an extensive due diligence process from a potential practice looking to merge with the medical group.
Adding to the pressure was a shift in patients choosing high-deductible insurance plans, resulting in more accountability on patients for their own out-of-pocket obligations and a longer collection period. According to a study that used medical claims data from 88,000 providers, the average patient obligation per visit increased 20 percent between 2012 and 2016 while the average deductible increased from $818 in 2006 to $2,069 in 2015. The goal for AUI and CareCloud became lowering the payment collection period to 25 days by improving pricing transparency across all locations and its patients.
“From my perspective, I’m very pleased with the relationship, the service, and certainly the cost. We’re working through the weeds in some areas, but we’re both growing as companies together”
In July of 2016, AUI integrated CareCloud’s account management system to improve visibility and their rate of collections. According to Wooten, “The best indicator for evaluating the effectiveness of CareCloud’s technology was monitoring our accounts receivables turnover ratio and cash-flow benchmarks. Today, AUI has shortened the collection cycle to 28 days from 32 with a target of 25 days by the end of the year. This is a significant improvement in our ability to identify deficiencies across providers and implement successful key performance metrics everyone can agree on.”
Equipped with new capabilities, AUI has been able to better identify root causes of denials, manage resolutions, and ultimately reduce write-offs. Aside from strictly looking at the monetary return produced by the partnership, it’s not simply smart, but also necessary for medical groups to work with partners that are capable of growing and changing with your medical group.
“From my perspective, I’m very pleased with the relationship, the service, and certainly the cost. We’re working through the weeds in some areas, but we’re both growing as companies together,” said Wooten.
Do you know what you need when setting up a new medical practice?