Ways Prior Authorization Services Cut Healthcare Costs
A large number of medical services and procedures require prior authorization. Although all medical organizations have to deal with this burden, PA requirements are especially stringent for a few specific specialties including radiology, cardiology, oncology, and durable medical equipment.
The need for prior authorization services is felt the most by these medical specialties. On average, 70 to 80 percent of their services/procedures require PA. This makes it very important for these providers to have streamlined scheduling and insurance verification processes.
There are two primary approaches to streamlining patient registration and verification processes: in-house and outsourced.
While providers have valid reasons for choosing the option best for them, outsourcing PA operations to professional pre authorization services has proven to reduce operational expenses by up to 80% in many cases.
And so, in this blog, we will discuss how Sunknowledge’s prior authorization services have been reducing operational costs for healthcare providers.
- Lower labor costs: Outsourced prior authorization services provide FTEs that work from a remote location with the help of a secure online connection. Healthcare providers don’t have to pay employee or medical benefits for these pre authorization FTEs.
Also, Sunknowledge’s outsourced PA specialists cost clients only $7 per hour compared to the minimum wage of US healthcare workers which cost providers $15 to $30 per hour.
- Greater operational output and efficiency: Unlike healthcare organizations that specialize in delivering medical care, pre authorization services specialize in securing authorizations from insurers in a short period of time.
Their expertise in processing PA requests supported by optimized workflows of the prior authorization vendor helps in improving the productivity and accuracy of prior auth operations. This increased output and efficiency brings down the processing cost for each pre authorization request.
- No expenses on employee and medical benefits: Healthcare organizations pay a large sum of money toward employee and medical benefits. These expenses can be avoided by outsourcing tasks to prior auth FTEs. As these outsourced resources are on the payroll of the prior authorization service provider, healthcare organizations don’t need to shoulder expenses on employee and medical benefits.
- Fewer errors and denials: Prior authorization services, due to the nature of their work, are more efficient at completing PA requests than healthcare providers. Their expertise and experience in securing authorizations from different insurers put them in a better position to get approvals quickly with fewer denials. This improved accuracy not only reduces denials but also costs associated with the need to resubmit PA requests.
How Sunknowledge’s Prior Authorization Services Cut Down Expenses
Sunknowledge’s prior authorization services support clients’ operations with certified and experienced prior authorization specialists. These expert FTEs are assigned to the client’s account to process pre authorization requests as quickly as possible.
Added to this, clients also benefit from our comprehensive SOPs and an industry-best pricing structure that allows them to process more prior auths in less time and at a lower cost.
To learn more about Sunknowledge’s range of customizable prior authorization services or to start a free trial, please contact Sunknowledge Services Inc., a HIPAA-compliant revenue cycle management company serving US healthcare providers since 2007.
