There are three key areas for revenue cycle improvement:

1. Front-End: Opportunities to make progress here include renegotiating health plan contracts and adjusting patient registration processes.
2. Mid-Cycle: In this phase, gains can be made in charge capture, pricing, medical record coding audits, coding and documentation, and chargemaster.
3. Back-End: Key indicators for improvement in this phase include billing and collection metrics, such as accounts receivable, percent of collections and denial rate, with a goal of streamlining billing for faster payments and efficient use of staff time.