Eliminating Paper Pains With Automated EOB Processing

Congdon: Hello everyone, this is Ken Congdon, editor in chief of Health IT Outcomes, and welcome to another installment of our executive podcast series. Even though ERAs were introduced several years ago, the world of healthcare payments is still far from being 100% electronic. In fact, 10% to 30% percent of healthcare payments are still processed in paper format in the form of checks and partial paper EOBs. As a result, healthcare providers find themselves faced with the challenge of having to efficiently manage both electronic and paper-based payments in order to optimize their revenue cycles.

Paper payments, in particular, can be difficult to optimize in the scenario due to the administrative costs associated with posting these payments and the inaccuracies that often result from manual data entry. Here to speak with us today about how an automatic remittance and payment solution may be able to help you streamline these processes, is Rodney Baker.

Rodney is a senior revenue cycle analyst at Emdeon, and is a CompTIA certified document imaging architect. He has focused in document automation for the insurance and healthcare industries for almost 20 years, working in the design, development, and delivery of OCR and forms processing technology systems.

Mr. Baker joined Emdeon through the acquisition of FV Tech in 2010, where he served as a consultant in 2008 and 2009. Mr. Baker's education includes a Masters degree in Business Information Systems, and an undergrad in Economics and Marketing at Florida State University. Today, Mr. Baker works with Emdeon's largest customers, to demonstrate and develop specifications for the delivery of Emdeon payment automation - the electronic processing of EOB documents. Thanks for joining us today Rod.

Baker: Thank you. I am glad to be here.

Congdon: Okay Rod, why should healthcare revenue cycle folks be so motivated to automate the EOB payment posting process?

Baker: Well, healthcare professionals are under constant pressure to streamline efficiencies and reduce operational costs. Manual posting of EOBs (explanation of benefits) payment data counts for much of the manual labor for most healthcare building offices, which means much of a higher cost. Therefore, the ability to eliminate the manual posting of paper EOBs and go 100% paperless with electronic files for all payers all at once, is a very compelling prospect.

In an environment where revenue cycle staff time is at a premium, freeing an entire business function like clerical key entry, makes a big improvement to a healthcare business' bottom line. Many healthcare providers operate on tight margins and the elimination of unnecessary costs becomes all but mandatory these days. Manual paper EOB payment posting into healthcare accounting and healthcare information systems is time intensive, costly, it can be inaccurate, difficult, and is often tedious, which burdens the revenue cycle team. Access this content to listen to this podcast or download the full transcript.