COVID-19 may first and foremost be a health crisis, but it also impacted livelihoods of those in a wide variety of industries, including many of those who work in healthcare. As with all other industries, the pandemic led to an immense number of layoffs. Many healthcare systems found themselves in precarious financial positions. Over 1 million healthcare workers lost their jobs in April alone.
Outside of COVID-19 clinical teams, few areas were left spared. Fortunately, with non-urgent surgical procedures resuming and with the healthcare community having a better handle on COVID-19 testing and care, there is light is beginning to shine at the end of the tunnel.
It’s more essential than ever to have comprehensive front line and behind the scene teams back in place. These teams provide hospitals with the clinical expertise our communities need and will help capture revenue and move organizations forward towards long-term growth.
Let’s look at 4 post-pandemic healthcare staffing solutions that can help put those strategies in place:
#1: Coding
Documentation and coding are essential to achieving sustainable results in quality, compliance, and reimbursement, including during the management of COVID-19. In the post-pandemic world, healthcare organizations need professionals on their teams who are experts in the latest coding updates on COVID-19 visits as well as virtual care visits. Their work will ensure the best patient health outcomes and promote healthcare fiscal stability.
#2: Audit and validation
COVID-19 created a truly unprecedented time that relaxed some rules, including those around virtual care. It’s likely we can expect a complex environment for organizations to navigate as non-urgent surgical procedures continue to resume and emergency rooms see patients return in pre-COVID numbers.
Audit and validation professionals can discover potential risks in this new complex environment. They can also track opportunities for improvement to ensure hospitals achieve and maintain the highest level of billing integrity. Ultimately, these professionals not only optimize profitability but also optimize the reimbursements that are essential for long-term revenue stability.
#3: Revenue cycle management
COVID-19 has no doubt radically disrupted healthcare revenue cycles. With an increased need for pandemic-related patient care, delayed treatment for other types of conditions, and a variety of different reimbursement programs, rebounding to some sense of normalcy will be an immensely challenging task.
Now is the time for hospitals to invest in revenue cycle management staffing strategies to get financial health back to where it needs to be and maintain it for the long-term.
#4: Health information management (HIM)
HIM has long been vital for ensuring the highest quality of communication, patient chart progress, and hospital organization as well as driving healthcare outcomes. But now more ever, medical data and its management are crucial, especially considering that virtual care is a large part of our new healthcare normal.
Having experts in place who can determine how effectively organizational systems collect, analyze, and secure data, detect health problems, set priorities, and create efficiencies is essential. They will create and continue to navigate the parameters for effective post-pandemic healthcare technologies.
Looking ahead
Healthcare systems have faced a dual onslaught of treating an unprecedented pandemic and weathering the financial storm that came with it. As the new normal is upon us and upon the state of public health, so is the opportunity to do more than rebound.
It’s time to advance value-based care and ensure preparedness for future pandemics.That means investing in expert post-pandemic staffing solutions now.
We’re here to empower
The team here at Harmony Healthcare can provide highly specialized solutions and expertise that work for hospitals and health systems, physician practices, and strategic alliances.
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