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Driving financial performance: Eastern Connecticut Hematology Oncology and Flatiron Revenue Cycle Management

August 4, 2021

Learn how Eastern Connecticut Hematology & Oncology Associates unlocked additional cash and faster revenue realization by partnering with Flatiron Revenue Cycle Management.

 

KPI improvements with Flatiron RCM

10% average monthly collections increase
10% accounts receivable days reduction
25% 120+ days accounts receivable aging reduction
80% bill lag reduction (injections, shots, labs)
 

 

The challenge: Financial and operational pressure

Eastern Connecticut Hematology and Oncology Associates (ECHO) was under financial and operational pressure. Keeping up with payer requirements was challenging. Managing authorizations, prioritizing outstanding accounts receivable (A/R) and resolving denials required significant operational support. It was difficult to leverage data insights and identify opportunities to strengthen practice performance using different care delivery and billing technology. Operating in a competitive hospital market, the practice felt pressure to stay independent. ECHO decided they needed to expand their revenue cycle expertise and technology to ensure autonomy and treat their patients in the community practice setting.

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Kristin Watson, ECHO and Alison Epstein, Flatiron Health

 

 

The solution: Assessment and partnership

ECHO physicians and staff completed a comprehensive assessment with the Flatiron Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) team to identify performance opportunities to best serve their patients.

Partnering with Flatiron, ECHO leveraged data and advanced financial analytics to continuously measure their revenue cycle outcomes. Using these analytics, they pinpointed clinical and business workflows improvements and created accountability for their teams. Working together, ECHO and Flatiron streamlined practice operations and focused practice staff on patient and provider facing activities by moving day-to-day billing work and strategic project management to the Flatiron team.

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Dinesh Kapur, MD, ECHO and Marcie Runyan, Flatiron Health

 

 

The outcome: Increased revenue and efficiency

A year into the Flatiron RCM partnership, ECHO practice collections increased by 10 percent and A/R aged over 120 days dropped by 25 percent. Anne Slam, ECHO’s Practice Administrator, said, “The proof is in the pudding. Our revenue has increased, our charges are getting out the door quicker and revenue is coming in faster.”

ECHO optimized their team’s capacity to focus on their patients and revenue expansion initiatives. ECHO opened an in-house oral pharmacy and launched chronic care management services to enable better patient care and increase net revenue. Shifting authorization and billing work to Flatiron freed up time for ECHO staff to focus on building these new business lines. Anne Slam now has time to focus on growing the practice and other strategic projects. She said, “Since the launch of our RCM partnership with Flatiron, we have been able to achieve an exceptional level of oversight, accountability and efficiency that has allowed me and my team to direct our focus on the complexity of practice operations and patient care.”

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Marcie Runyan, Flatiron Health and Anne Slam, ECHO

It’s people — the team that you work with makes the difference. You need that relationship and trust. Flatiron is a part of the team and we share a common goal for our practice to be successful and serve our patients.

Anne Slam
ECHO Practice Administrator

About ECHO
Eastern Connecticut Hematology & Oncology Associates is located in Norwich, CT and has five medical oncologists and four advanced practice providers. ECHO has a robust clinical research department and participates in the Oncology Care Model. They use Flatiron’s cancer-specific EMR OncoEMR®️, and launched a partnership with Flatiron Revenue Cycle Management services to improve their financial performance in 2018.