How technology helped Knoxville Orthopedic Surgery Center boost collections, improve workflow

At the Becker's ASC 21st Annual Meeting — The Business and Operations of ASCs, Oct. 23 to 25, in Chicago, Teresa Copeland, director of managed care/contracting at Knoxville (Tenn.) Orthopedic Surgery Center/OrthoTennessee and Sean Troklus, account executive at ZirMed, discussed how implementing technology helped the ambulatory surgery center boost collections.

"Running a high-volume, high-quality center is a challenge particularly in the face of decreasing reimbursement," said Ms. Copeland. "So we started looking at how to boost collections."

Over the course of the session, Ms. Copeland discussed the differences in work load and processes before and after implementing billing and collections software — in their case, ZirMed software. For example, before the technology was incorporated, ASC staff had to use multiple websites to confirm patient benefits. However, the software now provides staff with one site to look at for payer benefits.

According to Ms. Copeland, the software allows staff to post all payments through the solution and email receipts to patients. "This is proving to be less expensive for us," she said. "Now we are looking at into incorporating the ability to offer online payments for patients."

If an ASC can offer the patients' preferred payment option online — whether its credit, debit, etc. — patients will be more likely to pay on-time, said Mr. Troklus. Also, collections technology allows ASCs to offer payment plan options more easily, which will also help improve collections.

"Ultimately though, it is about workflow," said Mr. Troklus. "I'm very conscious of making sure that the software solution works for you, and if it can reduce steps when taking payments it makes things easier for staff and patients."

Ms. Copeland said that her staff loves their collections solution. They have confidence in the information that the solution is providing, and it is making their duties easier to perform.

"Also, the ZirMed staff was great about coming in and training the ASC staff," she said. "And this is an important aspect of any new technology implementation process."

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