Build Sustainable Provider Strategy in Rural Hospitals

Rural hospitals face unique challenges when it comes to provider staffing, retention, and growth, making it critical to have a long-term strategy that addresses both recruitment and retention. Developing a robust provider strategy is essential to sustaining quality patient care, reducing turnover, and ensuring long-term organizational success. This presentation will explore how rural hospitals can integrate a five-year provider strategy with operational improvements to create a sustainable approach for medical staff development.

By aligning recruitment efforts with operational goals and addressing operational efficiencies, hospital leadership can optimize staff performance, reduce burnout, and better meet community needs. This session will provide a step-by-step approach for hospital administrators to execute a medical staff development plan that incorporates both immediate operational improvements and market-supported long-term recruitment ensuring that rural hospitals are equipped to meet the growing demand for healthcare services in their communities.

At the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  • Understand the importance of a five-year recruitment plan: Learn how a long-term recruitment strategy can address both current staffing needs and future healthcare demands.
  • Integrate recruitment plans with operational efficiencies: Discover how improving operational processes can make a rural hospital more attractive to potential recruits and improve retention.
  • Discuss how to engage with providers on operational improvements: Current providers have a significant impact on the success of recruitment. Engaging with providers on necessary operational efficiencies can ensure appropriate timing and execution of recruitment.
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Q&A

How do people stay on top of all the payer newsletters to sort through everything to pull out applicable information for the facility/provider? Who typically is going through the newsletter to gather the information to share with other staff?

Our billing specialists are organized by payer, allowing them to develop deep expertise in their respective areas. Each specialist subscribes to their payer’s newsletters to stay informed about updates and changes. Additionally, our team leads, Supervisor, and Director of Patient Accounts—along with the Prior Authorization Team—collaborate to share key insights and ensure the entire team stays up to date. This collective approach enhances our ability to navigate payer policies efficiently and provide the best possible service. 

What leadership structure do you have in place for your revenue cycle and who or what do you use for training when billers or coders need it? Especially for new service lines or common denials?

Our billing specialists are supported by a structured leadership team, including two team leads, one Supervisor, and one Director. Training for billing specialists is conducted by our Supervisor and team leads to ensure consistency and expertise. Additionally, billing specialists meet weekly with leadership to review denials and identify payer-specific trends. For new coders, who are required to be certified, training is led by our Coding Lead to maintain high standards of accuracy and compliance.

Are the billers assigned based on an alphabetical split or by insurance type, such as Medicare and Medicaid specialists?

Billers are first assigned by insurance type and then further divided by alphabetical split. Since each insurance type has multiple billers, the alpha split helps distribute the workload efficiently.

Since we have union employees, how could we implement a similar incentive to Kindal’s while ensuring compliance with union regulations?

This would depend on the specifics of your union contract. Stroudwater can work with you to review the contract and develop a compliant incentive model.

Does your Coding/HIM department manage CPT coding, modifiers, and ICD-10, or do they focus solely on ICD-10?

Our Coding team handles all aspects of coding, including CPT, modifiers, and ICD-10. They thoroughly review all provider documentation to ensure accuracy and compliance.