In the ever-evolving healthcare industry, efficiently managing contracts can be challenging. It provides opportunities to improve net revenue, satisfaction among patients, operational efficiency, and cost optimization.
But a lot of healthcare businesses ignore their contracts, and less than 50% of them even review their contracts on an annual basis.
What if your healthcare organization oversees a large number of contracts while protecting patient confidentiality and making sure each contract is rightly handled throughout its duration?
Sounds difficult, doesn't it?
In our previous post, we discussed how using Microsoft 365 can help you automate healthcare contract management and get the most out of your Microsoft 365 investment. In this blog, we will cover the different types of healthcare contracts and how they help navigate operations.
Patient Care Contracts
A patient care contract is a formal agreement that outlines the services provided, payment, responsibilities, communication, and dispute resolution between the patient and the healthcare provider. Patient care contracts make sure that the needs and rights of both the patient and healthcare provider are met while establishing clear terms of care.
The rapid digital change taking place in the healthcare sector has resulted in an increase in the number of patient care contracts to manage sensitive patient information.
A comprehensive overview of the services provided, a detailed breakdown of expenses and payment options, insurance coverage, and the parties' preferred contact channels are all included to guarantee a smooth course of treatment.
The responsibilities of the healthcare provider, such as maintenance of patient records, and responsibilities for the patient such as adhering to the treatment plan as prescribed are included as well, ensuring informed consent.
Vendor and Supplier Contracts
Vendor and supplier contracts specify the relationship between a healthcare provider and a third-party provider (vendor or supplier) for securing the resources and services. Managing vendor and supplier contracts is important as they can make an impact on patient care. These contracts include pricing, delivery schedules, and legal and regulatory compliance requirements.
To deliver quality care and create value in the healthcare economy, healthcare providers make sure they have access to health supplies, medical equipment, and support services. They rely on an intricate network of partnerships with vendors and suppliers. These complex ecosystems of partnerships range from pharmaceuticals to IT services and facility management and maintenance.
These contracts ensure pricing structures and payment terms outlined are transparent to avoid any misunderstandings between the parties. A well-drafted vendor and supplier contract prevents data breaches and ensures they adhere to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) security rules.
Clear communication is key to effective vendor or supplier relationships, and if either party fails to meet the obligations, the vendor contracts provide a legal framework for resolving the dispute.
Insurance Contracts
Insurance contracts, also known as payer contracts, are contract documents that cover the financial aspect of healthcare services. Managing insurance contracts involves using data to analyze claims, negotiating with the insurance providers and thereby building a strong case to increase the likelihood of a successful negotiation. This ensures the healthcare provider is fairly compensated for their services.
There are certain elements in an insurance contract that make it legally binding. Some of the key elements outlined are insurance coverage details, policy conditions, reimbursement rates, claim processing, and disputes. Understanding these key elements is important for the contracting team to ensure timely reimbursement and maintain positive relationships with both the provider and the payer.
Reviewing the insurance contracts allows the contracting team to assess trends, overturn rates, and success rates and helps mitigate potential disputes. With the help of a comprehensive contract management solution, the team gets a holistic view of the scope of coverage, optimizes revenue, and improves patient care.
Also read: Why Insurance Companies Should Use Contract Management Software
Employment contracts
Hiring the right people is important for good patient care. A healthcare employment contract could attract highly skilled professionals and help establish a clear understanding of the scope of the work.
Healthcare employment contracts are more than just employment agreements, which are usually crafted with the help of a contract lawyer. These contracts outline the terms and conditions of employment and play a major role in safeguarding from potential issues like contract breach.
- Physician employment contracts: Outlines the rights and responsibilities of the employer and the physician which typically addresses the compensation, schedule, benefits, non-compete clauses, performance evaluation, and termination clauses.
- Physician recruitment contract: Serves as a framework that focuses on the initial phase of onboarding the physician. The physician recruitment contract outlines what is expected from them, expected working hours, and a detailed description of other duties.
Employment contracts assure the rights, duties, and expectations of an employee and protect sensitive medical information by establishing confidentiality obligations. These contracts are reviewed regularly to ensure they adhere to employment laws and regulations as they keep changing over time. As the business grows, creating and managing employment contracts can be done using standardized templates and implementing a secure centralized system.
Technology Licensing Contracts
Modern healthcare organizations possess some of the most sophisticated and advanced technologies from medical devices to cutting-edge software solutions. To facilitate the process of granting permission to use healthcare technologies, licensee's patents, copyrights, or intellectual property, the healthcare provider enters into a technology licensing contract.
These legal agreements outline confidentiality clauses, ownership, compliance with laws and standards, and protection of sensitive information and intellectual property. Healthcare organizations partner with experienced IP lawyers to navigate intellectual property legalities.
These legal license agreements include intricate terms and conditions. Healthcare providers use contract lifecycle management solutions to utilize the full potential of technology licensing contracts.
Managed Services Contracts
Most healthcare organizations would have a handful of functions that need to be outsourced such as facility management, IT services, medical equipment maintenance, and revenue cycle management. These functions are critical for the smooth functioning and delivering quality care.
Managed services contracts in place improve the overall efficiency of the operations. These are legal agreements between healthcare providers and third-party vendors that outline the scope of services, quality standards, reimbursement rates, payment terms, and compliance requirements.
Common Issues and Pitfalls in Managing Healthcare Contracts
Keeping an eye on the accuracy and compliance of all contracts is crucial because healthcare organizations are involved in a multitude of business relationships, from insurance to medical equipment. So, what are some of the common pitfalls in managing these healthcare contracts that could impact contract management?
- Lack of Standardized Clauses
Lack of standardized clauses refers to not following the uniform and widely accepted clauses in legal documents or contracts that could lead to confusion among the parties. This leaves both parties with varying expectations and interpretations of certain clauses. - Challenges in Tracking and Managing Multiple Contracts
Having to deal with multiple vendors, insurers, and regulatory bodies, can be a daunting task, especially without a centralized system to track the status, renewals, and compliance requirements. Missing contract renewal dates are very common in healthcare organizations, leading to financial losses and reputational damage.
Also read: Leveraging Auto-Renewal Contracts for Customer Retention - Risks of Data Breaches and Non-Compliance
Healthcare contracts often face the threat of cyber-attacks. Healthcare data breaches and non-compliance with regulations like HIPPA can have severe consequences, leaving you at risk for financial losses and unauthorized disclosure of sensitive patient information. Patients lose trust in organizations with a track record of data breaches and non-compliance, and prospective clients and vendors could be hesitant to partner with them.
How to Maximize Efficiency in Healthcare Contract Management
Managing many healthcare contracts in an organized manner without missing renewal deadlines and staying compliant is crucial for contracting teams. Using contract templates for repetitive contracts would be a good start. Include tailored clauses and update as much information as possible to make your contracts easily discoverable. Having a thorough contract review process in place ensures all your healthcare contracts are legally binding and everyone involved in the contracts is on the same page.
You've got it right, the answer to secure contract management is to leverage technology.
A secure contract lifecycle management solution offers a full range of contracting tools that come with automation capabilities. From metadata extraction to clause extraction and summarization, AI-based contract management solutions streamline the management of different types of healthcare contracts by reducing the time required for repetitive contracting processes.
Conclusion
Healthcare providers deal with a wide range of legal documents, which results in a large amount of paperwork, much of which is not related to medical records but rather to contracts. Dock 365 is a modern-day contract lifecycle management system that uses AI capabilities to provide secure healthcare contract management. Dock 365, built on Microsoft 365, embraces intelligent automation and offers compliance capabilities that enable easy integration with your organization's existing Microsoft applications such as Teams, SharePoint, and Outlook.
Talk to one of our representatives today to see how Dock 365 can be customized to meet the specific needs within your organization to streamline healthcare contracts. Schedule a demo.
