Business Etiquette: The Hidden Component of Revenue Integrity

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By: Daniel Land, RHIA, CCS, Director of Revenue Integrity & Compliance Review Services, MedPartners

The healthcare revenue cycle is a complex interdependent machine that relies upon collaboration of its stakeholders to assure an organization’s fiscal success.

Sophisticated revenue cycle analysis transcends obvious financial and quality metrics to assess the effectiveness of organizational relationships. Broken communication and poor professional relationships are erosive to the bottom line. The strength of the revenue chain depends upon the ability of departments and stakeholders to work together.

Although most healthcare leaders recognize that business etiquette is integral to positive external outcomes such as patient satisfaction, it can play an equally powerful role when interwoven in an organization’s culture. A climate of respect is necessary for employees to use strategic, sophisticated out of the box thinking to help solve the complex problems that face healthcare organizations. Bottom line, business etiquette is all about building the relationships necessary to help communicate important messages that can impact revenue integrity and an institution’s longevity.

Whether within a department, across a large health system, or across the globe, the way in which a message is delivered is often as important as the message itself. Successful communication is largely dependent upon the ability to listen. Here are some simple ways to improve communication:

• Listen: Understand tone as well as the words themselves.
• Concentrate: Be fully present in the moment and focus on what the other person is saying; resist the temptation to allow your mind to wander to what you want to say next.
• Reconfirm: Occasionally paraphrase the other person’s words to demonstrate your understanding of the message.
• Wait: In conversation, patience is a virtue and interrupting is a sin. Be patient, as some people take longer to get their point across than others.
• Appreciate: Always show gratitude by thanking the speaker for their time.

MedPartners has chosen to harness the power of business etiquette to help our clients achieve their revenue goals. The paradigm shift to consumer driven healthcare has created strong competition among providers for market share. We recognize that although technical expertise is essential, it is not the sole requisite for success. X-factors, or market differentiators, are necessary for an organization to distinguish itself from competitors. That is why our consultants utilize a unique blend of top industry knowledge, technical expertise, business etiquette, and finely honed soft skills to problem solve in order to effect the greatest change for our clients.

Business etiquette is a unique market differentiator that promotes excellence within organizations. Silos are still very much a part of the healthcare landscape and the ability to successfully navigate and initiate change across these silos ultimately translates into quality outcomes and revenue excellence. The success of a well-crafted message is greatly dependent upon its delivery; the effect of a message is lost if no one listens. Business etiquette helps assure that one’s message is taken seriously and solidifies a place at the table with key decision-makers in the healthcare industry.