Overview: Much of what happens in healthcare is about understanding the expectations of the many departments and personnel within the organization.

Reimbursement drives the financial operations of healthcare organizations; each department affects the reimbursement process regarding timelines and the amount of money put into and taken out of the system. However, if departments do not follow the guidelines put into place or do not capture the necessary information, it can be detrimental to the reimbursement system.

An important role for patient financial services (PFS) personnel is to monitor the reimbursement process, analyze the reimbursement process, and suggest changes to help maximize the reimbursement. One way to make this process more efficient is by ensuring that the various departments and personnel are exposed to the necessary knowledge.

Milestone One provides you an opportunity to engage with real-world data and tools that you would encounter in an actual professional environment. Specifically, you will begin thinking about the purpose of reimbursement and how it impacts other healthcare departments. You will also practice analyzing the revenue cycle.

Prompt: Submit a draft of your Section I of the final project. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

I. Reimbursement and the Revenue Cycle

A. Describe what reimbursement means to this specific healthcare organization. What would happen if services were provided to patients but no payments were received for these services? What specific data would you review in the reimbursement area to know whether changes were necessary?

B. Illustrate the revenue cycle using a flowchart tool. Take the patient through the cycle from the initial point of contact through the care and ending at the point where the payment is collected.

C. Prioritize the departments at this specific healthcare organization in order of their importance to the revenue cycle. Support your ordering of the departments with evidence.