Dr Iuliana Shapira Weighs In on How Data Analytics Can Improve Revenue Cycle

Iuliana Shapira, MD, chief medical officer, Regional Cancer Care Associates (RCCA), discusses how data analytics have improved RCCA's revenue cycle.

Transcript

How as data analytics improved your revenue cycle?

Data analytics is a fabulous tool because by collecting data, we know at what point in the revenues cycles we have the problems. So, we know if problems are at various stages and how to address those barriers. Is data analytics ready for prime time? It depends what data comes in. A way to scrub and curate the data as it relates to revenue cycle is needed. A lot of the problems we have in revenue cycle nowadays are handled by highly specialized individuals who have training in billing, coding, insurance verification, benefits verification, and other areas of the revenue cycle.

However, it would be fantastic if we could address with artificial intelligence and big data certain aspects of the revenue cycle, such as insurance verification. We collect insurance information at the first patient visits, but if in between the visits, in the time interval the patient changes insurance, we do now have a mechanism right now to capture that, and I don’t think that artificial intelligence is ready to capture that right now. However, I know there are many software products and many companies that are working diligently to improve that situation.