 | This article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject. (September 2015) |
Revenue cycle management (RCM) is the process used by healthcare systems in the United States and all over the world to track the revenue from patients, from their initial appointment or encounter with the healthcare system to their final payment of balance. It is a normal part of health administration. The revenue cycle can be defined as, "all administrative and clinical functions that contribute to the capture, management, and collection of patient service revenue."[1] It is a cycle that describes and explains the life cycle of a patient (and subsequent revenue and payments) through a typical healthcare encounter from admission (registration) to final payment (or adjustment off of accounts receivables). A thriving healthcare revenue cycle reduces and prevents errors. Several factors contribute to errors, but an agile revenue cycle management framework can eliminate these challenges before they occur.[2]