An effective revenue cycle management system is vital to dental service organizations (DSOs). From coding to patient financial services, revenue cycle management teams are made up of large, diverse groups of people with varied backgrounds and specialized skill sets. Finding, hiring, and onboarding experienced revenue cycle management talent has become increasingly difficult for DSOs. With current talent shortages, rising labor costs, and economic uncertainties, many organizations are turning to staffing partners like Medix to find top talent for their revenue cycle teams.
Why It’s a Critical Time to Partner with a Staffing Agency
Your DSO’s revenue cycle team is paramount to the success of your organization. There’s some pressure that comes with any role in revenue cycle management. You have to maximize revenue from claims, find ways to optimize collections, handle an increasing volume, understand how to leverage new technologies… the list goes on. Every item on the list requires one thing: the right staff. It’s a critical time to partner with a staffing agency who can supplement your internal recruiting team, and help you build the staff you need. Medix can help you do the following:
Save time and money.
Time is money. The amount of time required to find, hire, train, and onboard revenue cycle management talent is costly. Working with a staffing partner such as Medix saves your organization valuable time and money. Not only do we have a large pipeline of top, in-demand revenue cycle talent, but we also have the resources to hire and onboard talent quickly. Typically, we are able to identify resources for your team in a matter of days rather than weeks, ensuring that your revenue cycle continues to function efficiently and effectively. In addition, working with a staffing partner reduces your salary and benefits-related costs. Talent hired through Medix are often paid by Medix and receive Medix benefits, saving you additional time and resources.
Gain access to top talent.
Finding specialized talent for revenue cycle teams is difficult. With a large, vetted revenue cycle talent pool, Medix provides organizations with a steady supply of qualified, hard-to-find talent. In addition, we work with you to find a hiring strategy that works best for your DSO. Whether you need short-term help for peak periods or long-term solutions, we find the right people at the right time to fit your needs. We work with the largest DSOs across the country, so no matter where you are located, we likely have a strong, local network of candidates. Since we have yearslong relationships with some of these clients, we know what DSOs expect. Whether it’s quick placements to accommodate growth and avoid interruptions in collections, or technologically-advanced talent to keep up with digital transformation, we meet expectations.
Focus on what matters most.
Healthy revenue cycle operations are critical to keeping your organization functioning. There should never be any second guessing the quality of your team. Working with a staffing partner helps revenue cycle teams achieve budget objectives and maintain revenue functions to keep the engine of your DSO running. We can help you find the specialized revenue cycle talent that fits your needs and helps you maximize total revenue from claims, net collection rate, and more, while reducing the number of days in accounts receivable. For our clients with aggressive growth goals, we’ve helped them maintain flexible, lean staffs with contract and contract-to-hire talent. This has enabled them to quickly scale up and down based on demand and other factors, while controlling costs every step of the way.
How to Partner with a Specialized DSO Staffing Agency
Define specific needs and requirements.
Once you’ve decided to work with a staffing partner, the first step is to define the staffing needs and requirements. Consider which positions need to be filled, the requirements for each, position hours, and preferred position pay rate. Medix also has detailed market data and insights to help guide you in this process, putting you a step ahead of your competition to land talent. Also, discuss areas of opportunity across your revenue cycle operations. If you lack billing expertise, don’t have the staff to handle growing volume, or can’t seem to improve staff retention, your staffing partner can offer best practices to combat your issues.
Evaluate potential (specialized) staffing partners.
With over 12,000 staffing firms across the U.S., organizations have a lot of options when it comes to choosing a staffing partner. However, not all staffing firms are created equal—very few have DSO-specific experience. Potential staffing partners must be vetted according to expertise and scope of services. Because revenue cycle management encompasses many different positions with specialized skill sets, staffing partners must be qualified to staff multiple positions from patient access roles to upper management. In short, they must have specific and extensive experience in the DSO and revenue cycle spaces. Medix has a deep understanding of DSOs, revenue cycle staffing, and the specialized skills and unique compliance needs.
Describe the type of talent you need.
Once a staffing partner has been selected, the requisition intake process begins. During this conversation, your staffing partner will ask questions about the positions you need to fill, such as requirements for the role, education, experience level, hours, location, and pay rate. This information allows the staffing partner to locate candidates who best fit the requirements you’re looking for. At Medix, this is an incredibly important step in our partnership. We are committed to finding someone who does exactly what you need. Understanding your organizational needs and requirements helps us pinpoint which type of candidates will be the best fit. For example, for DSOs, which are growing quickly, we look for people who have administrative or revenue cycle experience in the dental industry, and have also worked in fast-paced organizations with a high volume of patients and claims. These candidates are far more likely to integrate and make a measurable impact sooner rather than later.
Perform talent interviews.
After the staffing partner locates candidates that fit your job requirements, each candidate is evaluated by the staffing partner. Medix has a multiple-step interview process in which talent is asked a series of questions to determine education, experience, commitment to the role, and even cultural fit. We focus on finding candidates with the full skill sets you need, or at least with most of the skills you need, along with an aptitude to learn. Medix also conducts reference checks and background checks on all candidates to further solidify a candidate’s suitability for the position. Once talent has passed the staffing screening process, they are passed to the client for a final interview. In this interview, you can be assured that the candidate has been thoroughly vetted and only requires a final stamp of approval.
Hire and onboard.
With the stamp of approval secured, hiring and onboarding begins. At Medix, we have an entire team dedicated to providing a seamless onboarding experience. For Medix revenue cycle talent, onboarding time is typically much shorter than internal teams and much faster than the industry average. And because we use proprietary methods and tools, such as MyPrint, to understand candidates’ motivations and traits, determining who is most likely to finish a temporary assignment and who is mostly likely to be retained in a full-time role, you can count on your new staff, and reduce the amount of future recruiting and onboarding.
Monitor success.
Once talent is hired and onboarded, it’s important to monitor the success of your new staff. Staffing partners should provide data and insights into placed talent and your ongoing partnership. Medix’s digital platform, Aha!, provides real-time insights into talent spend, hours, and performance. In addition, clients can stay in communication with their Medix-hired talent and contact their account manager when needed. In the event that your expectations are not being met, it’s important to communicate with your staffing partner and adjust your relationship as needed. The right partner will pivot quickly to solve your problem.
Revenue cycle management professionals are becoming increasingly difficult to find for DSOs. Medix can help you find, hire, and onboard revenue cycle management talent quickly, ensuring you are consistently earning revenue from claims and maintaining core business functions. As your DSO begins to plan for next year, consider how partnering with a specialized staffing agency can save you time and money (and increase your revenue) in 2024.
