The Value of Technology Hybrids for Radiology

Since the birth of the Internet twenty years ago we have seen new business models and unprecedented access to information by capitalizing on this robust, technological communication platform.  Household brands such as Amazon, Apple and Google have created technological hybrids that leverage this communication platform and have introduced new tools to assist in how we manage our work, personal lives and health. 

A technological hybrid is the result of fusing two or more technologies into a single new form. Typically, this new form is synergistic—it is more powerful than the sum of its parts, such as a smartphone:

camera + mobile phone + communication platform + software = smart phone

How can technology hybrids impact healthcare administration? As the saying goes “you can’t manage what you can’t measure.”  I think this really should be “you can’t manage if you can’t communicate”. As its core, radiology administration is about communication between providers, payers and the patient.  To streamline this process and make it efficient and effective, billing components can be built from the ground-up on the Internet infrastructure – a technological hybrid.

A hybrid billing approach fuses the best of outsourced billing and in-house billing:

In-house billing capabilities + outsourced billing capabilities + communication platform +   order data + PACS data + RIS data + CRM data +payer data + business intelligence + visualization capabilities = hybrid billing system

Since a hybrid billing model is based upon a standard worldwide communication language and hardware is hosted in the Cloud, management of payer communications, systems integration, file transfers, patient communications, claim submissions, enrollments, hardware, internal HIPAA audits, software updates, regulatory updates, payer claim format changes, ICD-10 testing, etc. is all managed, updated and tested by the vendor, freeing the radiology administrator to focus on A/R and patients. 

Additionally, as more and more systems are moving to the Cloud, these systems will be sharing data, in real-time to detect fraud, share patient data and provider data, just as the banking and consumer industry currently does to drive down administrative costs.  Interesting to note, the 5010 format incorporated real-time data share for eligibility verification and claim status updates – no interface updates or additional requirements needed for hybrid-billing systems since this is handled via Internet communication protocol.

Cloud-based hybrid solutions are the only means to effectively communicate, track, manage, and communicate again so we can better manage our patients and health systems.