Texas-based FinThrive, a healthcare income administration firm, lately revealed the 2026 Transformative Traits and Knowledge-Pushed Insights Report, wherein RCM (income cycle administration) leaders ranked synthetic intelligence (AI) and automation as their prime funding precedence, particularly throughout prior authorization, denials, underpayments, and scientific documentation.
In a press launch, FinThrive introduced that, for the primary time because the firm began monitoring RCM leaders’ objectives and funding priorities by means of the Transformative Traits survey in 2023, affected person expertise has change into the highest organizational objective (71 %), together with growing income (58 %) and lowering prices (36 %). Leaders are more and more counting on AI, automation, and better-integrated techniques to scale back friction throughout the income cycle, ship clearer monetary communications, speed up decision, and finally help stronger collections and decrease cost-to-collect.
“This reordering signifies that income cycle leaders are beginning to transfer away from short-term fixes, equivalent to aggressive cost-cutting and slim reimbursement methods,” mentioned Hemant Goel, president and CEO of FinThrive, in an announcement. “Organizations are shifting from reactive disaster administration to deliberate recalibration targeted on rebuilding stability, rethinking development, and advancing know-how’s function within the income cycle to enhance affected person satisfaction.”
In line with the information launch, over 70 % of respondents count on to scale back their reliance on third-party income cycle distributors, and almost 60 % plan to consolidate RCM distributors inside the subsequent three years, indicating that suppliers are searching for long-term strategic partnerships with trusted distributors to help them throughout the platform, slightly than a number of quick-fix level options.
Further key findings of the report included:
- Seventy-six % of income cycle leaders say implementing automation options is their prime initiative for 2026.
- Seventy-three % are utilizing AI and automation to streamline prior authorization, whereas 67 % are deploying it to handle denials and underpayments.
- Fifty-six % report that automation and AI characterize their single largest space of funding, signaling a shift from experimentation to enterprise-scale deployment.
- Eighty-five % of organizations report altering their strategic funding in RCM know-how in response to latest cybersecurity and clearinghouse disruptions.
