Upgrading an Accounting System: What EVERY Long-Term Healthcare Facility Should Know

The business environment within Long-Term Healthcare Facilities poses unique challenges to profitability. By replacing outdated accounting systems with more powerful solutions like Microsoft Dynamics GP, small independents can reap many benefits – higher efficiency, more productivity, faster growth.

While demand for nursing care is linked to demographics, profitability of individual facilities depends on efficient operations, since revenue per patient is controlled by big government insurance programs, Medicare and Medicaid. Large companies can achieve economies of scale in administration and purchasing, but small operators must focus on better service and higher efficiency to compete.

Many small LTHC operators see robust financial management software as the cornerstone of efficiency and profitability, and have these common needs:  

• Need invoice and claims submissions to conform to complex rules and regulations of third-party healthcare billing systems
• Need to track receivables accurately so that bills (and revenue!) are not lost when insurance companies and Medicaid delay claims processing   
• Need extensive financial reporting capability and a flexible chart of accounts structure to meet Government reporting requirements
• Need to automate financials with patient census data, so that profitability can be established on a per patient or per situation basis
• Need to measure profitability by program; since patient care involves numerous components (labor, materials, new facilities), and funding may come from diverse sources (Government, Insurance, patient, private foundations), tracking the profitability of a particular program is crucial, given the slim profit margins 

The best advice for small LTHC providers considering an accounting systems upgrade is: plan ahead, be inclusive, and do your homework on potential resellers. It’s not enough for a new accounting solution to manage current needs or integrate with current hardware. The solution you select must be able to support projected long-term growth as well. Dynamics GP will facilitate faster growth, and is powerful enough to grow with you.

By Intellitec Solutions, Microsoft Dynamics GP Partner serving Pennsylvania

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