An employed multi-specialty medical group with 35 practices struggled to meet time-of-service (TOS) collection targets due to limited data transparency and accountability, with a patient balance collection rate of only 45%. The lack of accurate reporting meant that front-line staff and management were unaware of the full extent of the issue. As a result, TOS collections were not prioritized, and performance lagged across locations. To address this, improving reporting accuracy and creating a platform for staff to share best practices and drive collective improvement was essential.
We collaborated with the medical group’s vendors and front-line staff to enhance data reporting and visibility, developing a new dashboard to provide transparent performance metrics for each practice. A short-term improvement target of 62% for patient balances and 95% for copay collections was established. We facilitated rapid performance gains by implementing improvement committees with selected practice managers and piloting strategies at 11 locations.
We transitioned the project after meeting collection goals (in aggregate) for four consecutive months across all 35 practices. Consistent all-hands meetings were held to educate managers on internal best practices, monitor collections, and ensure accountability. The group achieved a projected annual increase of $700,000 in collections, with patient balance collections improving from 40% to 65% and copay collections from 92% to 95%. The engagement yielded an implementation project ROI of approximately 3:1. Enhanced reporting and data transparency empowered the staff and management to sustain improvements and meet collections goals consistently.