Yesterday (3/26/20) there were posts concerning coding operations during this worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. Some in the radiology industry utilize "offshore" resources for coding and other RCM processes. This may have been spurred by reports from the recently ordered stay at home policy in India: "Modi Orders 3-Week Total Lockdown for All 1.3 Billion Indians" NYT; 3/24/20. In fact, I mentioned this article in WWB Live podcast yesterday noting that in the article it mentioned that most Indians are not equipped to work from home. While this is an interesting and very relevant bit of information it doesn't mean the coding world has stopped.
The business of radiology continues strong. I'm very confident that whether our members utilize in-house billing or outsourced RCM companies we have a very resilient and adaptable industry. This is based on how our industry has reacted to many emergencies throughout our history.
I have had the pleasure of visiting many of our RCM organizations and without exception they are flexible, have developed advanced scenario planning and will continue to provide excellent RCM services to our members in these challenging times.
As described by one of our members there is a lot of opportunity for "hair on fire" experiences right now but I strongly believe that the radiology billing industry is not one that practice leaders need to lose sleep over. As President Reagan was known for saying, "Trust, but verify"
Progress Through Sharing.
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Robert Still FRBMA
Executive Director
Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA)
Fairfax VA
(703) 621-3363
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