Given the financial stresses the COVID-19 pandemic has heaped on the healthcare sector, it’s not unreasonable to assume many organizations would be investigating the potential benefits of AI to improve their revenue capture strategies.

But according to a survey from the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), more than half of healthcare organizations have still not established programs to prevent revenue leakage, revenue degradation and compliance risk.

To that end, however, 3M and Waystar, a provider of healthcare payments software, recently announced a new partnership that will tap Waystar's AI-powered technology to allow providers, health systems and hospitals to improve operational efficiency and compliance and collect appropriate, fuller reimbursement.

Waystar uses predictive analytics and machine learning algorithms to analyze historical data to identify patterns in the claims processed on its platform, which the company says represents 500,000 providers and 40% of the U.S. population. The goal is to identify possible missing charges, underpayments and overpayments, as well as to automatically identify potential incorrect and under-coded claims before they are submitted.

"The healthcare industry has long been marked by administrative waste and inefficiency," said Waystar Chief Executive Officer Matt Hawkins. "Through our collaboration, we are now able to combine the best of Waystar's technology with 3M's expertise in organizational change. Together, we will empower health systems and hospitals to prevent revenue loss, operate more efficiently and free up resources for patient care."

For its part, 3M works with more than 6,000 health systems and hospitals across the U.S, and the new partners hope that by combining Waystar's technology expertise and 3M's ability to usher in organizational change, they’ll help targeted healthcare organizations put the processes in place to efficiently collect on the missing charges identified.

"At 3M, we are committed to providing innovative solutions that allow health systems and hospitals to solve their administrative challenges and more effectively capture revenue they're appropriately owed," said Elizabeth Guyton, vice president, 3M Health Information Systems. "Our collaboration with Waystar brings together a more comprehensive, end-to-end revenue cycle—from capture to coding to appropriate payment—for our clients."

According to experts, an estimated 30% of hospitals and health systems require two or more vendors for revenue cycle automation, and revenue cycle directors have noted that much of the ROI on automation is via money saved through fewer full-time equivalent positions. 

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