Healthcare providers may integrate sensor-based inhalers into their workflows to improve medication adherence and support children with asthma.

Inhalers Boost Adherence

The CDC offers an updated guidance on what to do about asymptomatic healthcare providers who are exposed.

COVID-19 Creates Worker Shortages

Dr. Sachin Jain of SCAN Health challenges health systems to ask this question when tackling the issue of diversity in the workforce.

Who's Not in the Room?

Family caregivers—important gatekeepers to care for seniors—have doubts about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine that leave this vulnerable group at risk according to new 

 an emergency use authorization (EUA) on Saturday to Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, which many have heralded as an important new tool in creating herd immunity, because it allows for easier use among hard-to-reach populations. Besides only requiring a single dose, the J&J vaccine does not need to be frozen while being shipped. An advisory panel unanimously the vaccine Friday.

But these advantages won’t matter if vulnerable populations harbor doubts about vaccine safety, which may be rooted in 

 of the medical establishment or cultural beliefs.

The new survey, conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of SCAN Health, a non-profit Medicare Advantage plan based in Long Beach, California, found only 63% of family caregivers who have doubts about the COVID-19 vaccine say they will take the senior in their care to be vaccinated.

What’s more, almost half of family caregivers in the United States—47%--said they would delay or refuse the vaccine if offered, which could put seniors in their care at risk.

Safety is on the minds of these caregivers: three in four who would reject or delay vaccination say safety concerns are the top reason.

Seniors in minority groups, which data have shown have been especially hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, could remain at risk if their family members do not take them to be vaccinated. And the SCAN survey found that 13% of Hispanic caregivers and 25% of Black caregivers said they did not plan to take the senior in their care to be vaccinated.

“These findings should ring alarm bells throughout the country,” Eve Gelb, senior vice president of healthcare services for SCAN, said in statement released with the results. “Family caregivers are the linchpin in our healthcare system. They make crucial decisions every day that affect the health of the people they care for. That’s why it’s so important that they trust the vaccines and get the person under their care vaccinated.”

The SCAN Health survey polled 1,000 U.S. family members who arrange for medical care for someone older than age 65. The survey included 400 Hispanic and 400 Black respondents. Nationwide, there are 53 million family members taking care of adults and children in the United States, providing everything from transportation and assistance with logistics to ensuring nutritional needs are met.

Among those surveyed, 71% said they had concerns about the vaccines’ safety, with about 1 in 5 caregivers (19%) saying they do not plan to take the person in their care to be vaccinated.

When caregivers refuse to be vaccinated themselves, it can be just as risky for seniors, said Dr. Romilla Batra, SCAN’s chief medical officer. “In addition to exposing their loved one to the virus, if they become sick themselves, they may not be able to provide vital day-to-day care for the person they support.”

SCAN’s Gelb said overcoming the historic lack of trust that some members may have in vaccine safety may not be easy, but the trust that patients have in their physicians and public health officials can offer a good starting point. According to the group’s statement, SCAN has implemented programs with both groups to emphasize the importance of vaccinations.

“We know we have our work cut out for us,” Gelb said. “But the good news is we know exactly what that work is.”

Articles

Longstanding distrust of the medical establishment plays out in a lack of confidence in safety of the COVID-19 vaccine. This gives health plans and systems the task of building bridges with at-risk groups.

SCAN Survey: Doubts About COVID-19 Vaccine Among Caregivers Could Put Seniors at Risk

New data from the Kaiser Family Foundation and Epic Health Research Network show while there was a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in fall 2020, there was a decline in non-COVID-19 hospital admissions during that time period.

“These new data provide additional information to help assess the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospitals and insurers and also adds to our understanding of the extend to which people are continuing to delay or forgo care nearly one year into the pandemic,” Tyler Heist and colleagues wrote.

The investigators analyzed trends in total hospital admissions and then separately analyzed non-COVID-19 admissions overall and by patient region, age, and sex. They calculated actual admissions as a share of total predicted admissions in 2020 based on trends from past years.

The analysis was based on electronic health record data from Epic Health Research Network and included all inpatient hospital admission volume from Dec. 31, 2017 to Dec. 5, 2020 and involved patients who were discharge or died as of Jan. 13, 2021. The data were aggregated and pooled weekly from 34 healthcare organizations across the U.S, of which, the states represented 73% of COVID-19 cases as of Jan. 21, 2021 and 76.7% of the U.S. population.

Heist and the team found total hospital admissions dropped to 69.2% of predicted admissions during the lowest point in the year (week ending April 4) before rising and staying at or above 90% since June 2020. Since the week ending Dec. 5, 2020, total admissions were at 94.2% of what was predicted. There was a decrease in hospital admissions from March 8 to Dec. 5, 2020, which represented 8.5% of the total expected admissions for all of 2020.

As COVID-19 cases rose in November 2020, non-related hospitalizations began declining and were about 80% of predicted hospitalizations by the end of the month, suggesting people may be delaying or completely skipping care due to the pandemic. The more recent decline in non-COVID-19-related admissions has been steepest in the Midwest and West since December. Admissions in those regions were at roughly 76% of predicted levels at the end of November when cases of COVID-19 were surging in those regions.

The drop in admissions was unanticipated by health systems and could have impacted each one financially in different ways. Recent study findings demonstrated the median hospital had enough cash on hand to pay its operating expenses for 53 days in 2018, but the 25th percentile hospital only had enough cash on hand for eight days. Smaller hospitals, public hospitals, and rural hospitals are considered the most likely to face financial challenges due to revenue loss from COVID-19. Some hospitals may be at risk of closing or merging if they cannot make up for the declines in revenue caused by admission decline.

New data provide insight into the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospitals and insurers.

The Decline in Non-COVID-19 Hospitalizations Is Financially Affecting Hospitals

MM+M Cites MJH Life Sciences’ Hennessy. 

This week, MJH Life Sciences™ President and CEO Michael J. Hennessy Jr. 

 by MM+M was one of the most influential leaders under the age of 40 in the pharma and healthcare marketing sectors. 

™ is one of the latest brands to join the MJH Life Sciences™ family under Hennessy’s leadership. Overall, MJH Life Sciences™ has grown to 60 brands, produces over 975 events and reaches 7.3 million unique visitors per month online and 2 million through print publications. Hennessy joined MJH Associates in 2010 as a national account manager and by September 2015 was elevated to president of the company. As president, Hennessy was responsible for identifying new business opportunities and driving the overall growth of the organization. In 2019, Michael was promoted to president and CEO of MJH Life Sciences™. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has increased the number of events and offerings by leveraging MJH Studios™ to pivot to virtual events. A month into the pandemic, the company launched Medical World News®, a channel for healthcare professionals.

Changing of the Guard at Huntsville Hospital Health System. 

One of Alabama’s most visible healthcare leaders will retire in July, when David Spillers, CEO of the Huntsville Hospital Health System, hands the reins to his successor, Jeff Samz, the current executive vice president and chief operating officer. The health system, which has 2,200 beds and 15,000 employees, made the 

 Tuesday. Spillers has been CEO since 2006 and has led the system through dramatic growth and change, with the biggest challenges coming in the last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Spillers’ profile rose as he took part in coronavirus briefings and publicly called for a statewide mask mandate three months before it was implemented. Spillers received praise from Philip Bentley, chair of the Health Care Authority, who said, “David’s leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic may be his greatest accomplishment. Few leaders could do what he has done as our hospitals have responded to the crisis.”

. Philadelphia area media outlets reported this week that the financially troubled Tower Health system, which owns six hospitals in the region, had replaced 

, takes the reins after the chief financial officer had already left, following an operating loss of $438 million for the year that ended June 30, 2020. The red ink continued to pile up, and a consulting firm and an investment bank have been engaged to weigh whether to sell five hospitals purchased in 2017, which have lost money since that time.

Welcome to Med Moves, a roundup of news about comings, goings, and happenings among healthcare leaders. 

MED MOVES: Michael J. Hennessy Jr. Named to 40 Under 40 List

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) yesterday announced the resolution of three disability discrimination complaints aimed at MedStar Health hospitals and care locations.

The resolution will ensure patients with disabilities are allowed access to support persons at MedStar Health during COVID-19. Support persons are defined as a family member, personal care assistant, similar disability service provider, or someone knowledgeable about the management or care of the patient who is authorized to assist the patient in decision making.

Patients who complained were impacted by MedStar Health’s temporary visitor restrictions adopted during COVID-19. This denied them the support they needed for their disabilities to ensure equal access to healthcare.

The patients who submitted complaints all had various support needs: a patient with neuro-cognitive deficits from a stroke, partial blindness, and cancer was denied a support person while seeking treatment for seizure symptoms in the emergency department at MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital in Maryland; a patient with hearing loss and brain dysfunction who was suffering disorientation and memory was denied a support person while recovering from heart surgery at the MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C.; and a person with advanced neuro-muscular autoimmune disease who and memory loss and physical impairments was denied a support person when admitted to the MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. for a pre-scheduled surgery.

Those who submitted complaints stated they were denied effective communication with their treatment teams, denied the ability to make informed decisions and provide consent, and were subjected unnecessarily to physical and pharmacological restraints.

Because of the allegations, OCR enforced Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, both of which prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in programs receiving Federal financial assistance.

Through working with OCR, MedStar Health revised its policy to distinguish between visitors and support persons — those who perform specific disability-related functions for patients with disabilities when necessary to have an equal chance to get and benefit from healthcare services. The updated policy applies to all its healthcare locations, which encompass 10 hospitals, 14 urgent care centers, seven cancer treatment centers, and more than 100 locations providing services for physical therapy, orthopedics, heart, and vascular care.

“While recognizing the safety considerations during the COVID-19 pandemic, civil rights protections remain in full force and effect and MedStar Health’s modifications in its practices ensure that patients with disabilities get the support to which they are entitled in a safe and effective way,” Robinsue Frohboese, acting director of OCR, 

MedStar Health denied patients with disabilities access to a support person.

OCR Resolves Discrimination Allegations Against MedStar Health

The use of remote and virtual care (RVC) models has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic struck. But how has using such technology impacted small healthcare businesses?

Findings of a recent study suggest small physician practices cannot harness RVC developments and consider it incompatible with business survival during and after COVID-19.

“If small healthcare firms cannot compete with RVC (or synergistically integrate RVC platforms into their current business practices) and eventually become nonoperational, the resulting damage to traditional healthcare services may be severe, particularly for critical care delivery and other important services that RVC cannot effectively replace,” Madhavan Parthasarathy, M.D., Ph.D., and a team of investigators wrote.

Parthasarathy and the team aimed to assess the perceptions of small healthcare businesses regarding the impact of RVC on their sustainability during COVID-19, as well as gauge their perceptions of their current levels of adoption of and satisfaction with RVC models and analyze how well that aligned with their perceptions of the current business scenario. Further they wanted to determine whether such perceptions influenced the view of their midterm sustainability.

The team conducted a focus group study with eight healthcare experts through Zoom — four entrepreneurs familiar with the healthcare environment in Colorado, two physicians, and two executive health faculty members. The Zoom call centered around the impact of RVC on the sustainability of small physician offices, clinics, and pharmacies during COVID-19. While those on the supported the notion that RVC adoption was posing a challenge to small healthcare businesses, they also believed clinics would likely not only benefit from but also be able to rapidly integrate RVC into their business practices more than physicians and pharmacies. The experts felt small local pharmacies would be negatively impacted during the pandemic because consumers can visit online pharmacies and avoid waiting at a physical location.

Following the focus group, a consulting firm sampled 445 small healthcare businesses in Colorado — 135 clinics, 141 physician offices, and 169 pharmacies — to validate the expert presumptions. Only 282 businesses responded to the survey and 270 were included in the final analysis.

The survey consisted of 11 questions about the current sustainability of the business in the subsequent one to three years. Respondents also answered whether they were satisfied with the current state of the business and current remote care practices.

Satisfaction with RVC and the current business scenario had direct, significant, and positive effects on respondents’ view of their midterm sustainability. The interaction term of satisfaction with RVC and current business scenario was significant and positive for clinics (

=.02), significant and negative for physician offices (

=.05), and not significant for pharmacies (

=.76). Such variations indicated that although clinics positively perceived use of RVC with their current business scenario, the opposite was true for small physician offices.

“While it is clear that the future of healthcare depends on these transformative models, the complexity lies in managing these models with appropriate support, training, reimbursement, and incentive models for small businesses, while meeting the expectations and demands of patient-centric healthcare delivery,” Parthasarathy and the team concluded.

Impact of Remote and Virtual Care Models on the Sustainability of Small Health Care Businesses: Perceptual Analysis of Small Clinics, Physician Offices, and Pharmacies in Colorado

Small healthcare businesses must manage remote and virtual care models with appropriate support, training, reimbursement, and incentive models.

Small Healthcare Businesses Struggling to Leverage Remote and Virtual Care During COVID-19

Findings of a new study suggest the use of machine learning assistance to prioritize the evaluation of patients with undiagnosed diseases is feasible and may increase the number of applications processed during a given time.

Isaac Kohane, M.D., Ph.D., and a team of investigators hope the findings create discussion around the current practices of automating referral decisions in the broader context of healthcare, which could save time and money for hospitals and health systems.

Kohane and his colleague, Hadi Amiri, Ph.D., developed computational models to effectively predict admission outcomes for applicants seeking Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) evaluation. Further, they ranked the applications based on the likelihood of patient admission to the UDN.

Inclusion criteria were that the applicant should have a condition that was undiagnosed despite evaluation by a healthcare professional and had at least one objective finding pertaining the phenotype for which the application was submitted. Applications in the data set included an application form containing demographic characteristic information; an official referral letter signed by a provider summarizing the applicant’s medical problems, previous diagnoses, treatments, and medications; application submission date; application review date; and the outcome of the application.

The investigators split the data set into training (80%), validation (10%), and test (10%) categories for evaluation. They then developed a logistic regression classifier and used a grid search to optimize its hyperparameters using validation data. The classifier was trained using features obtained or extracted from application materials, including “baseline” features from patient demographic information (normalized age at time of the application, age at disease onset, disease duration, and number of prior UDN visits).

Kohane and Amiri used the confidence score of the logistic classifier to rank applications based on their likelihood of acceptance. To get the confidence score, the team conducted 

-fold cross-validation experiments with the UDN data set and stored confidence scores on test instances for final ranking. They used UDN’s review session frequency and number of applications that could be reviewed in each session to measure the mean application process time from the ranked list of applications. The team considered four approaches to generate ranked lists, including the current processing order at the UDN, first-in-first-out queue, classifier ranking, and accepted-first ranking.

Overall, the accepted cohort was significantly younger (mean age at application, 19.7 years old vs 36.5 years old) and had earlier onset of disease (mean age at symptom onset, 10.8 years old vs 28.4 years old) than those who were not accepted. The duration of the disease and number of prior UDN site visits in both groups were similar. Application processing time was significantly longer for applications that were not accepted (3.29 vs 4.73 months). A large number of applications in both groups were for neurologic (47.6% and 34.1%) and musculoskeletal symptoms (12.5% and 9.6%), while few applications were for gynecologic (.2% and .2%) or toxicologic (0% and .4%) symptoms.

The investigators found the best classifier had a sensitivity of .843, a specificity of .738, and an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of .844 for predicting admission outcomes among 1,212 accepted and 1,210 not accepted applications. The classifier was able to decrease the mean UDN processing time for accepted applications from 3.29 months to 1.05 months — a 68% improvement — by ordering applications based on their likelihood of acceptance.

The system may assist clinical evaluators to distinguish, prioritize, and accelerate admission to the UDN for patients who have undiagnosed diseases. Accelerating the process could improve the diagnostic journeys for such patients and be a model for automation of triaging or referral for other resource-constrained applications. Further, shorter turnaround time could reduce the overall cost of diagnosis because the longer it takes to accept patients, the more diagnostic routes are likely to be sought.

Machine Learning of Patient Characteristics to Predict Admission Outcomes in the Undiagnosed Diseases Network

The machine-learning model could save time and healthcare costs. 

Machine-Learning Model Helps Prioritize Evaluation of Patients With Undiagnosed Diseases

Stephan Herron, CEO and President, Scriptel Corporation

There might not be a more wasteful practice than printing a form — especially a multi-page one — for the sole purpose of getting a signature. This is especially true of healthcare organizations that are using an electronic health record (EHR) to reduce paper and ensure a complete, clinician-accessible patient record.

A recent report by The Center for American Progress 

 that 14% of all U.S. healthcare expenditures are administrative, while the McKinsey Global Institute 

 more than $90 billion is spent on inefficient and redundant administrative practices in healthcare per year.

For many healthcare executives, peripherals aren’t always top of mind. However, they are a major consideration during an EHR implementation. That was the case at University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System (UI Health), where more than 10 peripherals needed to change throughout numerous facilities, including signature pads.

UI Health, which includes a 462-bed tertiary-care hospital serving more than 135,000 patients per year, 21 outpatient clinics, 14 federally qualified health centers, and seven University of Illinois at Chicago health science colleges, began implementing Epic’s EHR in 2019.

Knowing that just about every signature pad in the health system would need to change as part of the Epic implementation, Andrew Mosio, director of technology and service delivery at the Chicago-area health system, began evaluating options. Ultimately, 

 that received positive IT and user feedback.

Hospital environments are extraordinarily tough on small peripherals like signature pads. So, one of the many tests Mosio and his team performed on the vendor’s units was throwing them on the ground. After all, signature pads need to be able to take a lot of abuse in the clinical setting.

The units under consideration came through the tests with flying colors — proving extremely durable and 100% plug and play. Mosio, who has been with UI Health’s IT department for almost nine years, said it was the peripheral they spent the least amount of time on and the only one that caused no problems during and after the Epic go-live.

Today, there are just under 1,500 signature pads deployed across the UI Health system. In addition to use at patient check-in, they’re in all ambulatory clinical settings and hospital departments.

The goal of Mosio’s team was to eliminate paper signatures in favor of capitalizing on Epic’s eSignature API, given the EHR vendor’s strong commitment to electronic data capture. Anywhere signatures were needed for acknowledgement, they’ve deployed signature pads. Mosio and his team were extremely satisfied with the support they received from 

 during testing and noted they received no user complaints about the units during the rollout or since.

Electronic signature pads check all the boxes when it comes to saving money and reducing paper waste, allowing hospitals, like UI Health, to purchase fewer printers and less paper and toner while saving clerical staff considerable time waiting for documents to print and filing or scanning them once signed.

 is Chief Executive Officer and President of Scriptel Corporation, a leading developer of eSignature and signature capture technology. 

Electronic signature pads save money and reduce paper waste at health systems.

How One Chicago-Area Health System Eliminated Paper Signatures

It is important to maintain appropriate healthcare staffing to provide a safe work environment for healthcare personnel as well as safe patient care. Because of this, and potential shortages due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated a guidance to address staffing shortages at healthcare facilities.

New contingency strategies would allow asymptomatic providers who have had a higher-risk exposure to SARS-CoV-2 but are not known to be infected to shorten their duration of work restriction. Further, CDC updated to the guidance to allow asymptomatic fully vaccinated providers who have had a higher-risk exposure to SARS-CoV-2 but are not known to be infected to continue to work onsite throughout their 14-day post-exposure period.

In the guidance, CDC notes the need for healthcare facilities to understand their staffing needs and the minimum number of staff needed to provide both safe work environment and safe care for patients. The agency suggests healthcare facilities be in communication with local healthcare coalitions, federal, state, and local public health partners to identify additional healthcare providers when needed.

Contingency capacity strategies were implemented by CDC, so if staffing shortages are anticipated, healthcare facilities and employers can prepare to mitigate the problem. For one, CDC recommends adjusting staff schedules, hiring additional healthcare providers, and rotating healthcare providers to positions that support patient care activities. All non-essential procedures and visits should be cancelled, and healthcare providers should be shifted to work in areas to support other patient care activities in the facility. The facilities must ensure the providers are appropriately trained to work in new areas. Additional providers should also be identified to work in the facility and, if appropriate, request providers postpone elective time off from work.

It could also be beneficial to develop regional plans to find designated healthcare facilities or alternate care sites with adequate staffing to care for those with COVID-19.

What’s more, facilities should consider allowing asymptomatic providers who have had a higher-risk exposure to SARS-CoV-2 but are not known to be infected to shorten their duration of work restriction. Shortening the duration of work restriction might result in additional transmission risks, however. Those vaccinated should be prioritized to first shorten their duration of work restriction, then unvaccinated workers.

If staffing shortages continue despite mitigation strategies, CDC recommends as a last resort to consider allowing healthcare providers with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection who are well enough and willing to work but have not met all 

 to work. To determine which providers could be allowed to work, consider the type of shortages that need to be addressed and where the individual provider is in the course of their illness, along with symptoms and the degree of interaction with patients and other providers in the facility.

The updated guidance focuses on asymptomatic providers who are exposed to COVID-19.

CDC Updates Guidance on COVID-19 HCP Shortages

PursueCare and Herren Project today announced a partnership to enhance the accessibility of substance use disorder treatment services.

Through the partnership, PursueCare, a telehealth addiction treatment service, and Herren Project, a national addiction nonprofit organization, will provide thousands of patients access to virtual treatment for substance use disorder using PursueCare’s telehealth platform. Patients will benefit from Herren Project’s free support, online events, and tailored resources.

"Now more than ever, people need evidence-based and accessible treatment options that meet them where they are, and help them to reduce risk of harm," Nicholas Mercadante, founder and CEO of PursueCare, said. "We are proud to partner with Herren Project and support initiatives that provide better options for treatment without judgment. We believe this will improve their program members' prospects for getting care when it is needed, no matter what barriers they may have experienced in the past.”

PursueCare’s platform helps patients get access to medication like buprenorphine, psychiatry, and counseling from licensed providers through live video on a smartphone or tablet. Patients using the application can meet with their provider whenever needed to complete their individualized recovery program at home on their own time. A majority of patients start treatment within the first 24 hours of contact and Medicaid, Medicare, and other private insurances are accepted by the company. There are also other financing options available for those without insurance, such as monthly or per-session self-pay.

Seeking professional help for substance use disorder can often come with feelings of stigma for patients. And during COVID-19, use of telehealth services has skyrocketed. Now, patients have less barriers to access care for this condition, which can improve outcomes if adhered to.

"Access to services for substance use disorder and mental health is more critical than ever. With the increase in overdose deaths nationally, we knew it was crucial to find a quality partner who could provide virtual at-home resources for our clients to have a chance at recovery," Kevin Mikolazyk, executive director of Herren Project, said.

The partnership may reduce barriers to care for patients with substance use disorder.

PursueCare and Herren Project Partner to Improve Access to Telehealth for Substance Use Disorder

Approximately 30% of health systems and hospitals are unable to manage their revenue cycle automation efforts without at least two vendors, according to the findings of a recent survey by Alpha Health.

What’s more, 30% of health systems and hospitals, of which, more than 76% were large organizations with $1 billion or more in net patient revenues, built internal automation teams.

The survey, conducted through the Healthcare Financial Management Association’s Pulse Survey Program, was taken between May 19 and June 22, 2020 by 587 chief financial officers and revenue cycle leaders at health systems across the U.S.

The process of automating revenue cycle tasks typically includes observing and documenting workflows, programming the technology to perform the work as documented, and maintaining the solution as inputs and variables in specific processes change. Business process consultants generally handle the first step and work with a technology vendor to manage the second and third steps. Because maintenance can require internal revenue cycle staff to coordinate with business process consultants and technology vendors, many large health systems invest in their own automation teams.

“Many automation technologies, such as robotic process automation, were originally developed for other industries and purposes. Trying to retrofit these solutions to healthcare revenue cycle operations can result in unnecessarily complex deployment processes. This also requires significant investments in maintenance resources, whether those be multiple vendors or entirely new internal automation teams,” Ben Beadle-Ryby, co-founder and vice president of operations at Alpha Health, said in 

When survey respondents were asked which best described how many outside consulting firms and vendors they used to automate revenue cycle operations, 38.5% said they used one vendor who could do all three automation steps of the process. Just more than 30% (31.5%) said they did not use external consultants or vendors and instead had an internal team dedicated to automation who handled all steps of the automation process. Less than 20% (19.6%) used two vendors but had one vendor who handled multiple parts of the process.

The survey also revealed larger organizations were more likely to use more vendors than smaller organizations.

Revenue cycle automation is looked at to save time, speed up claims processes, decrease denials, and collect payment faster. 

Automation technologies for healthcare revenue cycle operations may be unnecessarily complex to deploy.