AI scribes, hidden revenue gaps and money-talk stress: What's bubbling under the surface at your practice?

Some of the costliest problems in an independent practice are the ones that get lost in plain sight during the day-to-day routine of patient care.

The patient leaves the exam room, and the physician turns to the keyboard.

The practice’s days in accounts receivable look fine, yet cash is still tight.

A front desk employee braces before telling the next patient what they owe.

The next Medical Economics Practice Academy, “Beneath the Surface: Efficiency, Revenue, and Burnout,” takes on all three. The no-cost virtual event runs from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 19, with three one-hour sessions led by expert speakers who have worked on these problems from inside health care organizations. Registration is free.

1 p.m. ET: What ambient AI gives back

“The Ambient AI Effect: Real Efficiency Gains in Healthcare” starts with a moment every clinician knows: The patient finishes talking, and the next stretch of time belongs to the keyboard.

Ambient artificial intelligence (AI) scribes listen during the visit and draft the clinical note and related documents. The session will explain how the technology captures a visit and share productivity and efficiency data from organizations using it at scale, including time returned per clinic day and its effect on visit capacity. The speakers also will consider what that time could mean for burnout, retention and the future health care workforce.

Physicians’ experience so far varies. In a Medical Economics and Physicians Practice flash poll presented in April, 70% of respondents said they were using AI scribes or evaluating vendors, but reported time savings ranged from about an hour a day for some to none at all for others.

Nancy Cibotti, M.D., practiced primary care for more than 20 years at Massachusetts General Hospital, then served as associate chief medical information officer and chief innovation officer of primary care at Beth Israel Lahey Health. There, she helped launch virtual primary care programs, implement ambient AI scribes and lead systemwide electronic health record transformations. She is now chief medical information officer for Heidi, a health care AI company, where she focuses on clinical workflow integration and safe adoption of AI tools.

Rohan Gupte, MBA, manager of solutions at Heidi, has more than 10 years of experience in health care technology, including solution architecture and AI transformation. He leads Heidi’s pre-sales and post-sales technical teams and works hands-on with workflow automation.

2 p.m. ET: What your averages hide

“The Average Is Hiding Something: Finding Revenue Cycle Problems Inside Your KPIs” opens with a puzzle many practice owners will recognize. Days in accounts receivable look fine, the denial rate is in range, and cash is still tight.

The reason, the session argues, is that averages blend the good with the bad. One slow-paying payer, one provider whose notes don’t support the level billed or one location that skips eligibility checks can all disappear inside a healthy-looking practice-wide number.

The goal is to find where money is stuck before it becomes a cash flow problem. This session will show how to break apart three common key performance indicators (KPIs) — days in accounts receivable, denial rate and net collection rate — by payer, provider, location and age. Attendees also will get a short set of questions for reviewing monthly reports with their billing team or vendor.

Shawntea “Taya” Gordon, MBA, FACMPE, founded Atlas & Perpetua Healthcare Consulting in 2024 to help independent practices identify revenue cycle risk and stay financially viable. She spent more than 15 years inside independent practices in operations, administration and revenue cycle leadership. She is a senior consultant and Government Affairs Council member with the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). The co-author of two revenue cycle books for MGMA, Gordon is a former adjunct professor of revenue cycle management at Howard University.

3 p.m. ET: The stress behind the money conversation

“Hidden Burnout Factor? Why Money Conversations Could Be Stressing Out Your Team” looks at a source of strain that practice leaders can easily overlook. Conversations about costs, copays and balances often fall to front desk and billing staff, and they can add to stress and disengagement.

The session will distinguish stress from burnout, identify common workplace stressors and cover tools, scripts and role clarity that help teams handle patient cost conversations with more confidence. It also will explore leadership practices and patient financing options that can ease the strain.

Amy Lafko, MSPT, MBA, spent more than 20 years in health care leadership roles across acute care rehabilitation, home care, urgent care and medical group practices. She founded Cairn Consulting Solutions and wrote down her practice formula in “People First: A Proven Method for an Exceptional Healthcare Practice.”

In an earlier Medical Economics roundtable on front desk burnout, Gordon described teaching front desk staff exactly how the practice gets paid, and Lafko made the case for quarterly one-on-one meetings with every direct report.

How to register

The Practice Academy is free and fully virtual. Register for the Nov. 19 Practice Academy. The event is sponsored by CareCredit and Heidi.