The Waystar Advisory Board recently held its first meeting of 2023. This network of experienced healthcare executives comes together regularly to connect, collaborate, advocate, and advise on market and industry challenges.
Our first meeting of 2023 was a vibrant virtual event. The group focused on Waystar innovations, how smart technology solves market challenges, and how to make a lasting impact in the industry.
Tackling today’s top challenges
During the meeting, Advisory Board members discussed revenue cycle inefficiencies. Of the $4.3 trillion that was spent on healthcare in 2021, more than $300 billion is lost in administrative waste. These error-ridden processes put pressure on provider revenue, as well as on the patient experience.
Here are three specific challenges the board discussed:
1. Workforce management is now the #1 challenge for healthcare leaders.
In the latest survey from the American College of Healthcare Executives:
- “Workforce challenges” were named the top priority for the second year in a row.
- Until 2021, “financial challenges” had held the top spot for 16 years.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, staffing issues have overwhelmed all other efforts — including some organizations’ ability to adopt technologies that would ultimately boost their bottom line.
For example, a new report by The Heath Management Academy indicates that strategic improvements to the patient financial journey can ease tight operating budgets — if providers make the effort to implement them.
2. Provider margins are under pressure — and will be for the foreseeable future.
Approximately half of U.S. hospitals ended 2022 with negative margins as expenses grew faster than revenue. Experts predict this pressure will continue in 2023. That means it’s up to providers to find new ways to capture revenue, reduce bad debt, and streamline operations — without adding headcount.
3. Patients drive revenue, trust, and satisfaction — but half are in financial distress.
Recently, patients’ out-of-pocket healthcare spending increased by more than 10%. It’s the fastest rate growth in nearly 40 years, and it’s putting immense pressure on patients as consumers of healthcare.
In 2022, 38% of patients put off treatment because of cost concerns put off treatment because of cost concerns. That makes it crucial for providers to offer support and solutions that make payments simpler for every patient.
How can we help?
After reviewing these challenges and talking through Waystar’s roadmap, we asked our Advisory Board members some questions:
- What are your organization’s top priorities for 2023?
- What do you think about our plans?
- What else do we need to know so we can serve you better?
As we talked through those questions, our members came back to one theme: the process for collecting payments must be as simple as possible so they can do what they do best — care for patients. That guiding goal — one that places care above all else — is something the advisory board routinely comes back to.
Plotting the way forward
At Waystar, we start with a single platform so the focus can be on healthcare, not health administration. Better care is ultimately why we hold Advisory Board meetings. We need to listen to our clients. We need to discuss today’s challenges. And we need to proactively build better ways to meet those challenges together.
Here are three of those ways we’re working to meet those challenges now:
1. Smart platform
- Transparency
Patients have clarity about what insurance covers, how much they will owe, and convenient ways to pay. - Efficiency
Complex processes are simplified, speeding time-to-payment and freeing staff to focus on patient care. - Accuracy
Smart technology and proprietary rules ensure data accuracy, prevent revenue leakage, and get providers paid in full — the first time.
2. Better experience
- Satisfied
By using the industry’s best technology, our clients and patients get a modern user experience. - Supported
Our users get answers when they need them most, yielding 90% same-day case resolutions. - Superior
By insisting on a better product experience, we slash tedious workflows, time lost correcting errors, and disconnected programs.
3. Powerful results
By deploying industry-leading technology at scale, we can increase revenue, decrease costs, and improve efficiency. It’s why Waystar’s net promoter score of 60+ ranks among the most prestigious brands in the world.1
But that score is not a stopping point.
At Waystar, we’re continually scaling and improving. We’re optimizing our platform with powerful technology and helping providers grow revenue and loyalty. And we’re continuing to build a consumer-driven future.
Together, we are all helping to shape the future of healthcare payments, and that’s an exciting way to look at 2023 and beyond.
