3M and Waystar Partner to Create Hospital Revenue Cycle Solution

3M and Waystar announced a strategic partnership to deliver an artificial intelligence-powered hospital revenue cycle solution aimed at improving efficiency with reimbursements and compliance, according to a press release.

The revenue capture solution will use Waystar’s artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and machine learning technology, along with 3M’s service team, to deliver revenue cycle optimization solutions to clients of 3M Health Information Systems division. The partnership aims to help organizations identify missing or incorrect charges and shift away from manual processes, according to the press release.

Providers have been calling for revenue cycle management disruption and innovation for a while, according to a 2020 KLAS survey. Top healthcare leaders cited over-complicated and outdated manual efforts as key reasons why revenue cycle management needs to be optimized.

As a result, revenue cycle key performance indicators (KPIs) are evolving as automation slowly gains popularity across the industry. According to a survey from AKASA, top revenue cycle KPIs in order of importance include number of days in accounts receivable (A/R), aged A/R, initial denials rate, discharge not final billed (DNFB), final write-offs rate, and cost to collect.

Despite revenue cycle automation’s ability to streamline workflow and limit mistakes, about a third of hospitals and health systems do not use automation, according to a recent AKASA survey.

Over 35 percent of AKASA survey respondents reported that implementing revenue cycle automation technology is not even at a priority on their to-do list. But over half of hospitals and health systems that are not currently using an automated revenue cycle management solution do plan to implement one by the end of 2021.

AKASA survey results also showed that revenue cycle automation was more common at larger health systems rather than smaller hospitals. This could be due to the upfront costs of implementation and the pandemic’s financial impact on smaller hospitals.

Implementation can come with growing pains, and almost a third of hospitals and health systems using revenue cycle automation have to use two or more vendors. In addition, about 30 percent of respondents said that they have an internal team dedicated to automation, and do not need external consultants or vendors to make use of the technology.

At Key-Whitman Eye Center in Texas, automating revenue cycle management helped to decrease aging accounts receivable by 38 percent within three months of implementation. Automation also helped the center to optimize staff efficiency and create worklists for staff based on date of service, denial code, and cash collection opportunity.

Waystar and 3M hope to “empower healthcare organizations to move away from manual processes and embrace automated, data-driven workflows,” the press release explained.

In addition to its partnership with 3M, Waystar recently announced its acquisition of Patientco, a technology company focused on omnichannel patient payments. The partnership aims to simplify healthcare payments and provide patients with payment plan and financing options and financial education.