After the unprecedented turmoil that shook the global healthcare industry, it’s on its way to resurrect itself with some drastic changes that can be future-proof for everyone associated with it. Driven by monumental advances in healthcare technology, thanks to the huge developments in artificial intelligence for the healthcare space, the industry is poised to overcome challenges such as escalating operational costs, stringent regulatory requirements, unforeseen disruptions, and the imperative for cost transparency. The scale of these challenges is evident in the 7.5% surge in healthcare spending in the US in 2023, reaching $4.9 trillion, a clear picture of the financial pressure the industry experiences regularly.
With the growing adoption of artificial intelligence and automation, 2025 is the year the industry experiences groundbreaking developments in the accounting for healthcare services space.
As professionals in the healthcare and accounting sectors, you are at the forefront of these changes, shaping the future of the industry. We can anticipate streamlined revenue cycle management and enhanced accounts payable processes for healthcare service providers, thereby improving overall efficiency and accuracy. In this blog, we will take a peek into the future of accounting for healthcare services with trends and predictions that are set to shape the industry.
Why is accounting for healthcare services important?
A healthy and compliant accounting for healthcare services system ensures that there is a strong cash flow for the organization, which can include many locations. The accounting function for healthcare services provider must ensure that there is a transparent and seamless way to track and manage inter-company transactions across multiple locations, departments, and categories while adhering with generally accepted accounting principles.
As a healthcare service provider, you need to be aware of the impact an efficient accounting function on the overall patient experience. An efficient and transparent accounting function can significantly boost your revenue and profits, hence more and more healthcare service providers prefer partnering with outsourcing accounting service providers for healthcare industry. If you feel the need for your organization, you must do the same.
Future of Accounting for Healthcare services
The Rise of Multi-Entity Healthcare Software
Healthcare organizations often face the challenge of managing their finance and accounting functions amidst the constant change in specialty services and expanding services to new regions. Operating from multiple offices requires them to make duplicate entries numerous times, further complicating healthcare finance management. However, with multi-entity accounting software, you can eliminate the redundancy of repeatedly making duplicate entries for many locations. This software’s ability to create consolidated financial reports in minutes instead of days is a game-changer. A unified database allows you to share vendor information and manage accounts and balance sheets seamlessly for individual companies or the entire entity.
Outsourced Accounting for Healthcare Services – The New Normal
While the entire healthcare world underwent massive turmoil recently, the accounting functions, without getting much notice, were among the worst hit functions. They were suddenly buried in an unprecedented amount of finance and accounting tasks and had to battle the ever-growing staff shortage and the challenges of remote work. While most F&A functions for healthcare service providers adapted admirably, most F&A functions felt the brunt of the situation as they were not adequately equipped to overcome such adversity.
Outsourced accounting for healthcare services presented itself as a well-suited alternative to satisfy the needs of the F&A functions by equipping them with the technology ecosystem and human expertise all at one go. While the cloud-based accounting systems of these outsourced accounting service providers helped F&A functions carry through remote work seamlessly, there was adequate automation to help them overcome the overload of routine work. Such was the impact of these outsourced accounting services providers that it now has become the most profitable and efficient way of streamlining F&A functions for healthcare service providers.
Increased Financial Data Security Compliance with HIPAA
With the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), every healthcare service provider must comply strictly when handling financial data.
“HIPAA Fines Reached $2.13M per Violation (2023)” Source: hhs.gov
This is why accounting outsourcing service providers for the healthcare industry have started incorporating robust cybersecurity measures to protect patient financial records and prevent breaches. As the technology adoption in the sector grows, we will see more and more service providers adopt these modern cybersecurity measures for their F&A safety or partner with outsourcing providers that assure them absolute data safety.
Increased Adoption of Offshore Staffing with Remote Workplace
The finance and accounting industry has been grappling with a severe talent crunch for quite some time now. This has led businesses to seek alternative sources of relevant talent, and the healthcare sector is no exception.
To overcome the ongoing talent shortage, nearly every healthcare service provider is adopting offshoring staffing as a viable alternative to operate their finance and accounting functions seamlessly. Some healthcare service providers are even embracing the remote workspace culture, demonstrating their commitment to offering their employees increased flexibility and ensuring the stability of the industry.
Artificial Intelligence for Accounting in Healthcare Industry
There’s no denying the fact that artificial intelligence is the future of work across all industries. With the growing adoption of artificial intelligence in healthcare industry, healthcare service providers are able to gather accurate business intelligence to streamline their F&A operations, adapt advanced tools for faster AP & AR processing, and even insights to tailor new service offerings for their clients.
With the increased in computational power and changing dynamics of healthcare industry, we will AI making huge disruptions in several areas that are ripe for transformation. AI-powered automation will also enable healthcare providers to automate their F&A processes such as invoicing, payroll processing, and expense tracking, allowing them to focus on patient care rather than financial paperwork.
Conclusion
As with any industry, the future of accounting for healthcare services will also be determined by technological advancements, regulatory shifts, and evolving financial models. To stay atop these changes, healthcare service providers must harness the power of advanced AI and ML-driven tools, automation, data analytics, and cybersecurity to further solidify their financial efficiency and compliance. By capitalizing on these trends, businesses can easily navigate the complex healthcare F&A space while strengthening their revenue cycle management and positioning themselves for long-term success in a rapidly changing industry.
