Many healthcare insurance companies have recently adopted a digital-first strategy around patient engagement, but few are realizing the benefits they hoped for.

One way healthcare companies - insurers a.k.a HMOs and providers, can boost revenue is by improving their claims processing efficiency. That’s why investments in technology must continue to rise, and why “digital-first” must be adopted across the industry.

“Digital-first” is the way to better healthcare claims processing. Patients are increasingly shopping for their care while healthcare providers are looking for new ways to improve claims processes, especially with submission, and reduce the billing gap between what’s billed and what’s paid.

A Re-think: Insurance Companies Should Be Customer Focused

In recent years, healthcare providers - hospitals, pharmacies, medical labs etc. have been slammed with claims that have gone unprocessed and returned to the submission hospital for correction. 

This is a time-consuming, inefficient, and costly practice. 

Healthcare providers are left without any certainty about whether their patients’ claims will be processed as intended, and administrative staff must spend countless hours re-submitting claims they already believed had been processed correctly. This is not only stressful on both the patient and provider sides of care, but also the cause of a high churn rate among healthcare providers, who are ultimately the ones most affected by these problems.

Getting Claim Processing Right: Digital First

Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, amidst its many variations, the healthcare claims processing system has undergone several changes to improve its effectiveness. 

The introduction of EDI (electronic data interchange) was a big step forward, but it was not enough to eliminate all problems. 

We are at a point where we need to think “digital-first” when it comes to creating an environment that makes claims processing more effective, efficient, and easy for everyone involved - Insurers, Providers and Policyholders.

If your organization still relies on paper documents to process claims, you may have unknowingly contributed to this issue by placing unnecessary stress on your office staff. 

Healthcare claims processing can be a complex process, so it’s easy to understand why many companies are turning to automation in the form of cloud-based solutions. While they can be helpful, they often require extensive customization and coding to fit each company’s individual needs, which is time-consuming, expensive, and prone to error.

Going Digital First with Curacel

By thinking “digital-first,” insurance companies can leverage platforms that offer an easy-to-use interface (Think of easy-to-use API's) for users and advanced capabilities for your IT needs. 

Digital-first does not mean digital-only. It requires a thoughtful blend of technology and human interaction to get the most out of your claims processing team.

With digital-first, you can reap the benefits of digital tools without making costly adjustments to your existing infrastructure. This approach reduces errors while helping you identify opportunities for optimization across every step of the claims process.

Curacel helps insurance companies optimize claims processing manual efforts, providing 75% productivity improvement with 99% accuracy.

Sign up here for a free demo.

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