News: Claim volumes is top issue for revenue cycle departments during COVID-19, survey finds

Erratic and unpredictable claim volumes and a host of staffing issues top the list of COVID-19 related problems according to chief financial officers and revenue cycle leaders, according to a recent study commissioned by Alpha Health and conducted through the Healthcare Financial Management Association’s Pulse Survey program.

Claim volume unpredictability ranked as the most common issue, cited by 50.5% of survey respondents, reported HealthLeaders Media, followed by 37% of respondents who cited an increase in workloads due to confusion over codes and requirements for COVID-19 related claims.

Despite the increased workloads in some areas, 35.8% of respondents also said overstaffing has been an issue because of a decrease in claim volumes, HealthLeaders Media reported. Other issues that came up in the survey were decreases in productivity because of the move to remote work (34.7%) and because of staff reductions (32%).

Few respondents cited problems with understaffing because of an increase in claim volumes (4.2%) or experienced decreased productivity because staffers were sick with COVID-19 (2.9%).

Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in HealthLeaders Media. For information about COVID-19’s impact of CDI work, click here.