The world has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic hit over a year ago, causing organizations to adapt to these changes and adjust to operating in a remote environment. New policies and procedures along with increased regulatory requirements can be a hurdle for any organization. As such, your organization should consider performing an efficiency study. Efficiency studies can help evaluate how your organization is doing and where there is room to improve efficiencies. They can be performed organization-wide, at a specific program level or focused on specific functions within a program or organization (i.e. billing, HR, etc.).

You may be thinking “Why does my organization need an efficiency study?” or “What are the benefits to having an efficiency study done?”. Here are some examples of scenarios where an efficiency study would be needed & the potential benefits to having an efficiency study done:

• There have been significant changes to structure/growth/new programs or functions within the organization.
• Your organization has grown and changed over the last several years and the manner in which you operate has changed.
• Your organization is preparing for upcoming requirements which add yet another dimension to your policies and procedures and quality process of providing your services.
• There is room for improvement within the organization and you would like an overall “check-up” to ensure compliance if your organization is at risk for an audit.
• There is redundancy in operations, for example, you manage key processes like billing, accounts payable, and payroll utilizing different software platforms that do not talk directly to one another, causing you and your staff to perform the same or similar tasks multiple times thus creating inefficiencies, redundancies and confusion.

Your internal resources may not have the capacity or technical experience to take on a project of this magnitude.  If that is the case, then you should consider an outsourced consultant to coordinate and manage the evaluation.

An efficiency study can lead to long lasting benefits for your organization. For example, Mercadien performed a Medicaid billing efficiency evaluation for an organization and not only identified several recommendations for improvement to the process, but also identified hundreds of thousands of dollars in underbilling’s that could still be recouped.

Mercadien’s Compliance Oversight Group has extensive experience in performing efficiency evaluations for all types of organizations, developing recommendations to increase efficiencies, and analyzing internal controls to identify strengths and areas for improvement to help organizations.  Ultimately the recommendations help mitigate risk. We can also assist with implementing the recommendations.  If you feel as though your organization would benefit from an efficiency study, whether due to changes made as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, or just to get an idea of how your organization is doing, please do not hesitate to contact me at msmierciak@mercadien.com or (609)-689-2333.

DISCLAIMER: This advisory resource is for general information purposes only. It does not constitute business or tax advice and may not be used and relied upon as a substitute for business or tax advice regarding a specific issue or problem. Advice should be obtained from a qualified accountant, tax practitioner or attorney licensed to practice in the jurisdiction where that advice is sought.