New service automates and streamlines patient information processing for faster procedure approvals, improved claims resolution, enhanced auditing compliance
Ricoh USA, Inc. today unveiled its Patient Information Management Service addressing one of the healthcare industry's most pressing needs: processing patient information. Despite several years of a steady push toward digitization, manual, paper-based processes continue to prevail with healthcare workers. This analog approach poses a significantly negative impact to cost, efficiency and quality of care, especially today when cash flow and health information management is so crucial. The need for secured, reliable and efficient automation of patient information management has never been higher.
Ricoh's Patient Information Management Service provides end-to-end automation of document-centric processes and correspondence through print, scan or fax to help minimize manual touch points, streamline processes, and reduce complexity. Previously, access to physical Protected Health Information (PHI) documents required employees to be in the office, however this digital, automated solution enables back office employees to work remotely and maintain productivity. Ricoh's Patient Information Management Service classifies, extracts and indexes information, then routes it to the appropriate patient file or workflow within an organization's enterprise content management (ECM) and electronic health record (EHR) systems.
"Accuracy and efficiency in health information management are absolutely crucial to positive patient experiences. Delivering information with speed, accuracy and low cost in a secured environment while still accommodating remote work has been a challenge for healthcare providers," said Amit Daga, Vice President, Portfolio Strategy and Engineering, Ricoh USA, Inc. "Ricoh's Patient Information Management Service helps bridge that gap. It greatly simplifies and streamlines traditionally time-consuming processes, which has far-reaching effects including enabling faster procedure approvals, improving claims resolution rate and aiding auditing compliance. The increased data transparency also yields actionable revenue and workflow insights to help providers achieve higher operating margins."
Since March 2020, provider networks have faced significant operating margin pressures. As a result, they are eager to find ways to drive efficiencies that can help rebuild these margins. At the same time, according to a recent McKinsey & Company report, 94% of claims submission are "heavily dependent on manual processing of claims and follow-up work."1. With the need for remote work fundamentally changing the way healthcare staff communicate and handle patient information, the challenges with traditional document-centric processes have become more urgent. For example, remote workers cannot quickly and easily access on-site paper files whether faxed or printed. Automation is a mandatory business survival need.
Ricoh's Patient Information Management Service, which builds on the previously announced Ricoh Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) software platform, addresses this problem head-on. Recently, a major medical center was manually processing more than 1,000 claims correspondences each day, spanning more than 200 document types. The average processing time was 20 minutes per document, a pace that risked missed deadlines, denied authorizations and delayed payments. The resulting processing backlog often stretched two weeks. By leveraging Ricoh's services, the average document processing time improved by 400%, correspondences were consolidated into 22 document types, and a secured browser-based portal empowered staff to work remotely and seamlessly during the pandemic. Today, claims are typically processed in two days or less.
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