Healthcare finance is transforming before our very eyes – and in ways that no one could have anticipated. Take the paperless office, for example. In 2019, hardly anyone working in healthcare finance would have mentioned going paperless as a top priority. But now, at the beginning of 2021, minimizing and eliminating the use of paper documents is something every office is scrambling to do ASAP.
The cause of this unexpected shift is a familiar one by now: Covid-19. When the pandemic made hospitals and medical offices ground zero for infections, most healthcare finance units started working remotely. They had to complete all the same work as before, plus make sense of how coronavirus impacted revenues, all while working from separate locations – making it impossible to exchange paper documents.
More than just an annoyance, paper documents became a serious impediment to the work of the healthcare finance unit. Workflows that involved multiple collaborators became inefficient or, in some cases, impossible to complete using paper documents. Important information would end up on a paper document where it became both inaccessible to outsiders and at risk of falling into the wrong hands. Wherever paper documents were involved, the work of remote healthcare finance teams suffered.
In response, these teams are looking to go paperless once and for all. They see this transformation as crucial for remaining productive in the midst of whatever turn the pandemic takes next. They also see a paperless office as a model of the future workplace: something they need to adopt sooner rather than later. The good news for all healthcare finance teams is that going paperless has never been simpler.
Eliminating the Need for Paper Documents
It’s not enough to request that people stop printing documents or take the time to rigorously digitize all data. Instead, decision makers need to eliminate the need for paper documents while making digital alternatives accessible broadly, deeply, and intuitively.
That’s where Sage Intacct enters the equation. As a true financial management solution (not just another accounting software), Sage Intacct provides a platform to contain all financial information (past and present) along with data from other units within a healthcare organization. In that way, there’s no need for paper documents because everything someone would need to know lives inside of Sage Intacct.
In addition to extending accessibility, Sage Intacct enhances accounting in ways that paper documents never could. Users can explore the numbers, slice and dice the data, utilize sophisticated accounting tools, and apply in-depth analytics all from an interface that’s extremely user-friendly. To put it differently, users don’t just reference information – they engage with it.
Sage Intacct customer Hunter Health talked about the benefits they’ve experienced going paperless, which you can find in their case study. They eliminated tedious, manual tasks, automated monthly bank reconciliations, and streamlined reporting which allowed them to cut their month-end close from a full month to under 10 business days, saving around $100,000 in annual overhead costs, while supporting 40% growth with half the headcount.
If the paperless office is a priority for your healthcare finance unit, Sage Intacct makes it possible. Furthermore, it gives remote teams the tool they need to remain productive and collaborative from anywhere for any duration. Is it right for you? Contact CDH to explore the answer.
