Our nation’s healthcare industry experienced a spike of unemployment in March 2020 with a decline of 43,000 job losses as hospitals continue seeing millions of dollars lost in Q1. 151 hospitals alone have furloughed over 15,000 workers not seen as essential to cut costs while elective procedures and other sources of income are put on hold. Right now, it may seem to make financial sense to reduce clerks in Accounts Payable (AP) because they are “overhead,” not revenue generators.

How can AP and Finance Leaders Make a Case for Their Workers?

How can AP be turned into a revenue generator? The first step is to realize that revenue can be generated by reducing payment errors.

Not only that, but this type of “revenue” is more profitable for the health system than revenue generated via patient billing. It’s more profitable because this revenue comes from your bottom line, after all your standard organizational costs have been absorbed.

“We have been eager to help our clients in any way that we can while they take on this pandemic. We continue vetting and sending Supply Chain clients new sources for PPE to ease the burden on their teams, but aiding AP and Finance has been a challenge,” remarked John Weiss, CEO at TAG, Inc. “We’ve met with AP and Finance Directors to understand their real concerns. Repeatedly, we heard fears of losing staff to furloughs and workforce reduction while still being responsible for preparing budgets for the upcoming fiscal year and ensuring vendors get paid timely AND accurately. That’s when we knew how we could help.”

How can AP and Internal Audit Produce Revenue?

Revenue generation from AP may seem like a creative stretch, but the reality is, it’s there for the taking. Is your leadership skeptical? We understand, we’ve been doing this for over 30 years. So, we suggest you propose a “proof of concept” project.

“In order to bring in immediate cash, AP and Finance can partner with us for a recovery audit. A recovery audit is one part of our Discovery Review; first comes revenue generation, then we identify new efficiencies mitigating risk throughout the Procure-to-Pay process,” states Michael Nisivoccia, Director of Sales and Client Solutions at TAG, Inc.

The idea is to produce real, quantifiable, financial gain that can be presented to your senior leadership as justification for your idea of creating a Revenue Generating AP department.

Protect your team now and throughout the next FY by proving your department’s value. Partner with us today and start generating cash for your hospital or health system. Message us now.