The Client Challenge
After Saint Luke’s Health System completed conversion to a new electronic health record (EHR) platform, its three critical access hospitals (CAHs) and its associated rural health clinics (RHCs) experienced declining revenue cycle performance. The health system, based in the Kansas City region, found that managing subsequent technology requests and workflow inefficiencies presented opportunities to strengthen revenue cycle governance, delve into key performance indicators (KPIs), resolve build issues, streamline workqueues, and reengineer workflows.
Lack of revenue cycle governance infrastructure
Increased DNFB and AR days
Decreased cash collections
Lack of effective point of service (POS) collections program
Decreased productivity due to workqueue structure, workflow logic, and inaccurate security templates
Navigating to Next: The Solution
Chartis partnered with Saint Luke’s to identify necessary system build modifications and evaluate revenue cycle staffing levels against benchmarks. To pinpoint performance, efficiency, and employee satisfaction opportunities, the team reviewed workqueue structure and workload distribution. Additionally, Chartis’ interaction with clinical teams revealed that roles and security templates prohibited nursing staff from effectively functioning in a critical access environment, where they are needed to float through all hospital departments. Findings and recommendations were collaboratively presented and endorsed for implementation. The team co-developed a workplan to address identified optimization opportunities, quantify required resources, and establish an implementation timeline. Chartis provided subject matter expertise, project management, and oversight to ensure teams remained focused and progressed toward defined goals.
