What is change management and why is it important?

Implementation fatigue is real. Coupled with frequent turnover and seemingly constant technology solution implementations, health systems often struggle just to improve the current state, let alone find the time and energy to implement another new solution.

Health systems want to realize the benefits of new solutions and services, but bandwidth limitations and stresses associated with operationalizing new changes often delay new implementations along with any associated return on investment. This deferral can cost the organization hundreds of thousands of dollars in opportunity cost and can impact the patient experience.

This is where change management services are especially beneficial. Frost-Arnett’s Change Management Services significantly reduce the level of effort required in an implementation by spearheading the operational redesign and optimization of relevant workflows, procedures, organizational structure, staff scripting and training involved. Since we are operators as much as we are consultants, our team has tenured experience as change agents and have developed and implemented revenue cycle management (RCM) optimization and transformation roadmaps across people, processes and technology for health systems nationwide.

Our frequent onsite presence builds relationships with key stakeholders, removes barriers in real time, and further ensures timelines are met – all while lifting the change burden from client staff. This allows our clients to implement solutions and realize their benefits sooner, all while maximizing the effectiveness of those solutions and their results.

Use Cases

Examples related to our services and solutions include, but are not limited to:

• Conducting end-to-end RCM assessments of patient access, the mid-cycle, and backend, proposing services and solutions to leadership and quantifying their benefits.
• Optimizing patient access workflows to improve financial clearance, point of sale (POS) collections, prior balance review, estimation and patient financing enrollment through best practice standard operating procedures (SOPs), scripting and job aides.
• Leading our end-to-end PayJourney implementation which infuses estimation, patient financing and digital engagement into our call center, both pre- and post-service.
• Leading backend early out transitions through the creation of extended business office operations.
• Spearheading full-time employee (FTE) reallocation plans with hospital Human Resources and senior leadership, shifting legacy collection staff to pre-registration and financial counselling roles; creating the action plan with recommendations and job descriptions of the new roles.
• Preparing the population for transition to digital billing and/or patient financing via marketing initiatives, patient access and call center scripting and training, statement stuffers, postcards, and table tents.
• Establishing and leading workstreams across the implementation team, including operations, treasury, marketing, and IT; aligning stakeholders to the change objectives and key results.
• Forging onsite stakeholder relationships while addressing concerns in real time and escalating or removing barriers to change.
• Serving health systems in the RCM Interim Director capacity, leading optimization initiatives.
• Leading acute and ambulatory DNFB & AR action teams in the RCM Director role during a billing and/or follow-up outsourcing initiative to improve billing efficiency and denial management or prevention.
• Implementing physician documentation AI solutions while championing a Deficiency Management Task Force to align physicians and health information management (HIM) to new automated physician documentation and clinical documentation improvement (CDI) initiatives, reducing chart lag, improving chart quality and physician experience.

Methodology

Our Change Management Services utilize 3 strategies of change – at the Workstream/Project level, at the Individual Level, and at the Organizational level.

We first align with the executive team to the strategic vision and estimated benefit. We then assess KPIs, data, and current state workflows before the implementation (if desired) to collect baselines and identify areas of recommended change within the implementation, proposing our findings to leadership.

1. Workstream – We set up tactical workstreams with key stakeholders and align them to the change deliverables, doing all possible to minimize meeting frequency and technical lift.
   1. Operations: Propose and approve design decisions, SOPs, and scripting that will be used with staff in patient access and backend collections.
   2. Treasury: Review funds flow into the new bank account, invoicing procedures, reconciliation functionality, and cash posting scenarios.
   3. Marketing: Propose and approve of marketing strategy and materials to bring awareness to community and staff.
   4. IT: Integrate our solution(s) with the host EHR via necessary flat files, API and/or HL7.
2. Individual – We align with supervisors on a regular basis, working elbow-to-elbow with their staff to train them on any new scripting, portals, job aides and workflows. We also financially incentivize staff to hit goals pertaining to patient financing enrollments and POS collections, thereby increasing their excitement for the change and willingness to learn.
3. Organizational – We spearhead strategic vision and alignment with leadership, plan and manage the change while escalating barriers and reporting implementation progress. We also lead in the value measurement post-implementation against agreed upon KPIs.

By leading the operational change, your organization can more readily and easily transition to new processes and technologies. Talk to us today about how our Change Management Services can assist.