Shortages of clinical staff have made headlines during the pandemic, however, clinical staff roles are not the only roles hospitals and private practices are struggling to fill. According to Becker’s Hospital Review, medicine is facing an “industry-wide shortage of revenue cycle staff” with “front-end revenue cycle staff, back-office specialists, coders, accounts receivable and denial management experts … all in short supply.”
The impact is already being felt by practices across the country. According to an MGMA survey in February, 40% of practices did not meet their revenue goals in 2021, with the top reason listed being “staffing issues.” One MGMA Stat poll found that 73% of medical practices reported “staffing” as the biggest pandemic challenge heading into 2022.
Amidst these staffing shortages, onerous processes, like prior authorizations, continue to burden both clinical and administrative staff. According to the AMA’s annual prior authorization physician survey, physicians and their staff complete 41 prior authorizations per physician per week, and spend an average of almost two business days (13 hours) each week completing prior authorizations per physician. The AMA’s survey respondents include 40% primary care physicians and 60% specialists. These numbers look higher at the practice level especially for specialty practices with more onerous prior authorization requirements and multiple prescribers.
SamaCare took a look at the average number of prior authorizations completed by specialty practices in 2021. Oncology practices completed 351 prior authorizations per week. Retina practices completed 358 prior authorizations per week. In dealing with this high volume of prior authorizations across various payers and plans, practices on our platform indicated that leveraging technology to save staff time was key.
“We've used SamaCare to streamline the way we organized PAs. Less than a month after starting and before even fully training everyone, the system improved our efficiency enough that we could shift 20% of our team towards other administrative tasks,” says David Evans, CEO of Texas Neurology.
In fact, on average, retina practices saved 53 hours per week, or the equivalent of 1.33 full time resources, by using SamaCare to submit, track, and manage prior authorizations for physician-administered drugs across all payers. Oncology practices saved an average of 52 hours per week on prior authorizations, or the equivalent of 1.30 full time resources.
With recruitment and retention of administrative staff, especially revenue cycle management staff, proving more challenging than ever before, practices can unlock resources by leveraging technology like SamaCare to save time on non-value added tasks.
Shortages of clinical staff have made headlines during the pandemic, however, clinical staff roles are not the only roles hospitals and private practices are struggling to fill. According to Becker’s Hospital Review, medicine is facing an “industry-wide shortage of revenue cycle staff” with “front-end revenue cycle staff, back-office specialists, coders, accounts receivable and denial management experts … all in short supply.”
The impact is already being felt by practices across the country. According to an MGMA survey in February, 40% of practices did not meet their revenue goals in 2021, with the top reason listed being “staffing issues.” One MGMA Stat poll found that 73% of medical practices reported “staffing” as the biggest pandemic challenge heading into 2022.
Amidst these staffing shortages, onerous processes, like prior authorizations, continue to burden both clinical and administrative staff. According to the AMA’s annual prior authorization physician survey, physicians and their staff complete 41 prior authorizations per physician per week, and spend an average of almost two business days (13 hours) each week completing prior authorizations per physician. The AMA’s survey respondents include 40% primary care physicians and 60% specialists. These numbers look higher at the practice level especially for specialty practices with more onerous prior authorization requirements and multiple prescribers.
SamaCare took a look at the average number of prior authorizations completed by specialty practices in 2021. Oncology practices completed 351 prior authorizations per week. Retina practices completed 358 prior authorizations per week. In dealing with this high volume of prior authorizations across various payers and plans, practices on our platform indicated that leveraging technology to save staff time was key.
“We've used SamaCare to streamline the way we organized PAs. Less than a month after starting and before even fully training everyone, the system improved our efficiency enough that we could shift 20% of our team towards other administrative tasks,” says David Evans, CEO of Texas Neurology.
In fact, on average, retina practices saved 53 hours per week, or the equivalent of 1.33 full time resources, by using SamaCare to submit, track, and manage prior authorizations for physician-administered drugs across all payers. Oncology practices saved an average of 52 hours per week on prior authorizations, or the equivalent of 1.30 full time resources.
With recruitment and retention of administrative staff, especially revenue cycle management staff, proving more challenging than ever before, practices can unlock resources by leveraging technology like SamaCare to save time on non-value added tasks.
Shortages of clinical staff have made headlines during the pandemic, however, clinical staff roles are not the only roles hospitals and private practices are struggling to fill. According to Becker’s Hospital Review, medicine is facing an “industry-wide shortage of revenue cycle staff” with “front-end revenue cycle staff, back-office specialists, coders, accounts receivable and denial management experts … all in short supply.”
The impact is already being felt by practices across the country. According to an MGMA survey in February, 40% of practices did not meet their revenue goals in 2021, with the top reason listed being “staffing issues.” One MGMA Stat poll found that 73% of medical practices reported “staffing” as the biggest pandemic challenge heading into 2022.
Amidst these staffing shortages, onerous processes, like prior authorizations, continue to burden both clinical and administrative staff. According to the AMA’s annual prior authorization physician survey, physicians and their staff complete 41 prior authorizations per physician per week, and spend an average of almost two business days (13 hours) each week completing prior authorizations per physician. The AMA’s survey respondents include 40% primary care physicians and 60% specialists. These numbers look higher at the practice level especially for specialty practices with more onerous prior authorization requirements and multiple prescribers.
SamaCare took a look at the average number of prior authorizations completed by specialty practices in 2021. Oncology practices completed 351 prior authorizations per week. Retina practices completed 358 prior authorizations per week. In dealing with this high volume of prior authorizations across various payers and plans, practices on our platform indicated that leveraging technology to save staff time was key.
“We've used SamaCare to streamline the way we organized PAs. Less than a month after starting and before even fully training everyone, the system improved our efficiency enough that we could shift 20% of our team towards other administrative tasks,” says David Evans, CEO of Texas Neurology.
In fact, on average, retina practices saved 53 hours per week, or the equivalent of 1.33 full time resources, by using SamaCare to submit, track, and manage prior authorizations for physician-administered drugs across all payers. Oncology practices saved an average of 52 hours per week on prior authorizations, or the equivalent of 1.30 full time resources.
With recruitment and retention of administrative staff, especially revenue cycle management staff, proving more challenging than ever before, practices can unlock resources by leveraging technology like SamaCare to save time on non-value added tasks.
Shortages of clinical staff have made headlines during the pandemic, however, clinical staff roles are not the only roles hospitals and private practices are struggling to fill. According to Becker’s Hospital Review, medicine is facing an “industry-wide shortage of revenue cycle staff” with “front-end revenue cycle staff, back-office specialists, coders, accounts receivable and denial management experts … all in short supply.”
The impact is already being felt by practices across the country. According to an MGMA survey in February, 40% of practices did not meet their revenue goals in 2021, with the top reason listed being “staffing issues.” One MGMA Stat poll found that 73% of medical practices reported “staffing” as the biggest pandemic challenge heading into 2022.
Amidst these staffing shortages, onerous processes, like prior authorizations, continue to burden both clinical and administrative staff. According to the AMA’s annual prior authorization physician survey, physicians and their staff complete 41 prior authorizations per physician per week, and spend an average of almost two business days (13 hours) each week completing prior authorizations per physician. The AMA’s survey respondents include 40% primary care physicians and 60% specialists. These numbers look higher at the practice level especially for specialty practices with more onerous prior authorization requirements and multiple prescribers.
SamaCare took a look at the average number of prior authorizations completed by specialty practices in 2021. Oncology practices completed 351 prior authorizations per week. Retina practices completed 358 prior authorizations per week. In dealing with this high volume of prior authorizations across various payers and plans, practices on our platform indicated that leveraging technology to save staff time was key.
“We've used SamaCare to streamline the way we organized PAs. Less than a month after starting and before even fully training everyone, the system improved our efficiency enough that we could shift 20% of our team towards other administrative tasks,” says David Evans, CEO of Texas Neurology.
In fact, on average, retina practices saved 53 hours per week, or the equivalent of 1.33 full time resources, by using SamaCare to submit, track, and manage prior authorizations for physician-administered drugs across all payers. Oncology practices saved an average of 52 hours per week on prior authorizations, or the equivalent of 1.30 full time resources.
With recruitment and retention of administrative staff, especially revenue cycle management staff, proving more challenging than ever before, practices can unlock resources by leveraging technology like SamaCare to save time on non-value added tasks.
