How Reducing Revenue Cycle Complexity and Optimizing Coding Distribution Added $32 Per Visit with Petra Pirc

Episode summary

Show notes

In this episode of Rehabbing Your Revenue Cycle Podcast, host Robert Kowalick sits down with Petra Pirc, Owner of Physical Therapy Plus, an outpatient physical therapy practice with locations in New Mexico. Petra shares her journey from being a staff therapist to taking over the long-established PT clinic she worked in just before the COVID-19 pandemic. She explains how partnering with Revenue Cycle Solutions (“RCS”) helped solve her financial struggles by improving her revenue cycle outcomes. Her evolution started with having access to the data she needed to understand her present condition and what was reducing revenue and increasing costs. The RCS data identified root causes of claims issues and opportunities to improve clinician coding and the practice payer mix. Once armed with better data, Petra was able to optimize processes internal to her practice and improve her financial outcomes. Petra’s story highlights how practice owners can use data to increase revenue per visit, reduce billing complexity, and build a more stable and scalable business despite today’s industry challenges.

With more than two decades of experience as a physical therapist, Petra Pirc had a deep understanding of patient care but needed more expertise as a business owner. After taking over Physical Therapy Plus in late 2019, Petra quickly faced the challenges of running a practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through her partnership with RCS, Petra was able to focus on becoming a more knowledgeable and effective practice owner. Using the RCS approach of better data, facilitating better processes and outcomes, Petra was able to gain better control over the things that determined her financial outcomes. Her hands-on approach and commitment to using data to optimize her practice operations have helped her boost revenue per visit by $32, reduce days in AR, and create excess cash flow that could be used to be more competitive as an employer and ultimately strengthen the long-term success of her practice.

Expect to Learn

How Petra transitioned from staff therapist to practice owner and navigated the challenges of COVID-19.
Why obtaining the right data is the most important first step in improving practice financial outcomes
How the right data enables optimization of CPT coding and payer mix, which can significantly raise revenue per visit
How reducing revenue cycle complexity results in stronger and faster conversion of provider time into cash, prevents leaving money on the table, and reduces the cost of getting paid
Why the right revenue cycle data is key to identifying revenue risks and making smarter strategic decisions
How collaboration between all the roles in a practice around common revenue cycle goals can create a more stable and scalable business

Timestamps

[00:00] – Teaser
[02:21] – Buying the Clinic Just Before COVID Hit
[04:33] – Surviving COVID and Securing PPP Loan
[08:14] – In-House Billing Struggles and Learning by Doing
[11:14] – Data, CPT Coding, and Rebuilding After the Pandemic
[15:21] – Looking at Petra’s Data Over the Past Three Years
[20:59] – Optimizing Revenue Cycle and Payer Mix
[28:44] – Payer Mix Optimization and Dropping Low-Paying Plans
[34:19] – Billing Time Demand vs Time Supply Explained
[36:16] – Reducing Claim Errors and Improving Efficiency
[01:00:56] – Petra’s Advice to Practice Owners

How Reducing Revenue Cycle Complexity and Optimizing Coding Distribution Added $32 Per Visit with Petra Pirc

Episode summary

Show notes

Expect to Learn

Timestamps

Keep going

It’s About Time: How Time-Based Billing Intelligence Data Can Maximize the Value of Your Practice (Part 1)

How Time-Based Billing Intelligence Data Becomes the Basis for Reducing Revenue Cycle Complexity and Improving Revenue Cycle Outcomes (Part 2)