Ongoing contract management means watching over contracts after they are signed. It makes sure everyone follows the rules agreed upon. In healthcare, this includes keeping track of agreements with payers, vendors, service providers, and employees. The goal is to avoid letting contracts expire, follow laws, and keep workflows running smoothly.
Healthcare providers need to watch important contract dates like renewals, performance targets, and payment times. They must also handle disagreements, change terms if needed, and review how well contracts are working. Without a plan, hospitals and clinics might miss deadlines, renew contracts by mistake, fail to follow rules, or lose money.
Work done by Ovation Healthcare shows that agreements with payers affect money, operations, and patient care. Ongoing contract management helps providers avoid rushing negotiations and keeps contract details clear over time.
Some contract parts need close watching because they affect money and work:
Wanda Wright, Vice President of Payer Relations at Ovation Healthcare, says paying attention to these parts during negotiations and management is important to keep money and operations stable.
Data is very important for good contract management. Healthcare providers collect and study financial and operational numbers about contracts. Regular reports help managers:
Milliman’s MedInsight Value-Based Care (VBC) Contracts tool shows how data systems help with contract management. Its dashboards let providers look at financial results from value-based care deals. They can check patients served, money made, and costs at risk. By studying this data, providers manage total care costs and improve profits while meeting quality goals.
These tools cut down manual steps, stop data from being stuck in one place, and let better decisions happen at all levels of healthcare organizations.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation are becoming more helpful for handling complex healthcare contracts. AI Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) systems offer benefits for practice leaders and IT managers:
Contract Logix is a company providing AI CLM software used by over 60,000 workers in legal, purchasing, finance, and sales. Their system stores contracts safely in encrypted cloud servers, like Microsoft Azure, giving safe but easy access.
Using AI and automation reduces human mistakes and lowers paperwork. This lets staff focus on important work like negotiations and improving operations.
For IT managers, adding CLM platforms boosts data security, helps with audits, and connects contract data to other systems like billing and enterprise resource planning (ERP).
Healthcare is moving toward value-based care contracts. These focus on quality results and controlling costs, not just the number of services. This change means providers must manage contracts for money and for meeting quality and efficiency goals.
Value-based contracts often have rewards for hitting targets related to patient outcomes, prevention, and satisfaction. Managing these contracts well includes:
Providers with strong data systems and good contract management are more likely to get rewards in value-based deals. They also lower risks from not meeting contract rules.
If healthcare providers do not manage contracts well, they risk problems with operations, money, and following laws. Using automation, matching contract review to changing payer models, and having organized procedures help make healthcare management more efficient. Practice leaders and IT managers in the U.S. can improve money and operations by using these methods. This also helps give better patient care and keeps healthcare services running well.
The six stages are: 1. Contract Creation 2. Negotiation and Collaboration 3. Review and Approval 4. Administration and Execution 5. Ongoing Management and Renewal 6. Reporting and Tracking.
Contract creation is vital as it formalizes verbal agreements into written documents, detailing the services, start dates, pricing, and contingencies relevant to the parties involved.
Negotiation allows parties to refine the terms of the contract. Using a contract management platform enhances version control, ensuring everyone collaborates on the correct document.
This stage involves getting internal sign-offs from stakeholders. Using CLM software can track approvals, reduce bottlenecks, and ensure contracts are processed efficiently.
Once approved, CLM software simplifies contract execution and storage, allowing secure access to contracts via encrypted, centralized repositories.
Ongoing contract management involves fulfilling contractual obligations, tracking milestones, and preparing for renewals or terminations, ensuring compliance and operational efficiency.
Reporting helps evaluate contract performance, monitor key dates, and prepare for renewals, providing insights that assist in strategic decision-making.
CLM software streamlines negotiations through version tracking, ensuring accurate documents are shared, and providing an audit trail of changes made during discussions.
Essential security features include secure document storage, controlled access through user roles, and compliance with regulations like HIPAA to protect sensitive information.
By automating contract tracking and simplifying workflows, such software allows teams to focus on high-value tasks, thereby enhancing overall productivity and reducing costs.
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