Q1. Could you start by giving us a brief overview of your professional background, particularly focusing on your expertise in the industry?

I started my journey in healthcare 23 years ago with perhaps the country’s first and only paperless hospital! But of course, we were too early in the game for that and had to change quite quickly!

Over the years, I grew from a shop floor manager to leading startups of new ‘localized’ concepts, building healthcare SMEs from scratch under different corporate banners, and doing business process reengineering for multiple hospitals. I have worked in different parts of the healthcare service delivery sector ( tertiary care hospitals, secondary care hospitals, small boutique hospitals, diagnostics, mental health ), healthcare IT (data analytics, education), medical devices (toxicology), and now healthcare fintech. 

I have shared my healthcare experiences through various articles published in AHHM, a digital healthcare magazine.

Q2. What are the  key factors driving the adoption of RCM outsourcing among healthcare providers?

Clinician-run hospitals can build good clinical practices but lag behind in administrative detail. RCM is a core requirement to ensure that money spent is recovered, and RCM outsourcing is a growing concept driven by the practices that exist in the West. 

However, we need to understand the critical bits before we do that.

Q3. How are integrated EHR-RCM systems performing compared to standalone RCM solutions?

Aggregation and tech play a huge role in supporting outsourced services with cost optimization. A good EHR, when used properly, can support the RCM easily. 

Q4. If you were an investor looking at companies within the space, what critical question would you pose to their senior management?

If I were an investor, I would ask the following questions-

• What is the tech like - what details does it capture? 
• What benefits will the company deliver- TAT for submitting, TAT for recovery, percentage of deductions, and Manpower model?