Windham Brannon, a leading provider of tax, audit, accounting and advisory services, announced the Georgia Hospital Association through its shared services subsidiary Georgia Hospital Health Services has joined the Revenue Cycle Consortium, which was created to assist rural hospitals and healthcare facilities with financial challenges and revenue cycle issues, as a founding member. 

The new partnership will give GHA member hospitals in rural settings throughout Georgia easy and cost-effective access to revenue-cycle expertise; best-practice benchmarking, coaching and development of metrics; and assistance in action planning designed to improve revenue-cycle operations and the overall financial health of the hospital.

"Rural hospitals are many times the only care option for residents living outside of the more populated metropolitan areas within our state, and, unfortunately, revenue cycle challenges have severely impacted many of these facilities to the point of shutdown," said Bill Wylie, senior vice president, Business Operations. "Our participation in the Revenue Cycle Consortium gives our member hospitals another resource to help improve revenue cycle efficiency, which in turn is integral to increasing the strength of their financials."

"A 'perfect storm' of financial disruption is impacting hospitals today, from reduced Medicare reimbursements to escalating costs and staffing shortages to changes associated with the Affordable Care Act and other legislation," said Valerie Barckhoff, a 21-year revenue cycle consulting veteran and principal at Windham Brannon. "The Revenue Cycle Consortium can especially benefit rural hospitals that do not have a dedicated revenue cycle leader or the internal staff with the right skill set to improve the facility's overall financial health―before it's too late." 

From a financial standpoint, membership in the Revenue Cycle Consortium can save organizations significant capital when compared to hiring an outside consultant. For example, the Consortium can save a hospital more than $100,000 in fees associated with the average cost of a traditional revenue cycle assessment performed by an outside consultant (estimated at $150,000-$250,000).