From Overhead to Opportunity: Structuring RCM Teams for Hospital-Owned Success

Staffing remains a top concern for hospital-owned physician groups in 2025. According to Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), medical practices cite staffing as one of their top three most significant challenges, and revenue cycle roles are no exception. Vacancies, turnover, and inefficient staffing models drive up overhead, slow reimbursements, and erode margins. 

Hospital systems face unique headwinds. Centralized human resource (HR) processes and rigid structures can create barriers to filling key RCM positions quickly or adapting to shifting payer demands. One of the fastest ways to protect performance is clear: strategic staffing and deploying revenue cycle talent.

For hospital-owned groups, staffing is more than headcount; it’s a financial lever. How you structure and deploy RCM talent directly impacts overhead, payer performance, and your ability to scale access without inflating costs. 

The Impact of Staffing Inefficiencies

RCM may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of staffing, but for hospital-owned groups, it’s one of the smartest ways to build operational resilience. According to MGMA Stat poll, over a third of medical leaders stated that they plan to outsource at least a portion of the revenue cycle. When workflows break down, even large hospital systems struggle to keep up. Downstream impacts may include:

• Rising Admin Costs: Disconnected or duplicative processes across departments drive up overhead and slow down workflows.

• Burnout & Turnover: Constant churn in billing and coding teams leads to delays, errors, denials, and inconsistent reimbursement, according to MGMA.

• Payer Complexity: Fragmented teams often fail to keep pace with evolving requirements, resulting in more rework, more denials, and less cash in the door.

Over time, these inefficiencies compound, weakening margins and eroding performance even when patient volumes remain strong.

The Value of a Scalable RCM Partner

According to MGMA, partnering with a global RCM partner can help mitigate staffing gaps by offering cost-effective, right-sized support that adapts to your organization’s needs, such as:

• System-Level Support: RCM vendors bring centralized claims and denial management across departments, helping standardize workflows and reduce bottlenecks.
• Stronger Collections: With experienced teams and optimized workflows, groups see measurable improvements in reimbursement and payer yield.
• Lower Cost to Collect: Outsourcing eliminates the fixed costs of large in-house teams, replacing them with flexible, customized support.
• Built to Scale: According to MGMA, as hospital systems grow, so does the RCM team—without the growing pains of internal recruiting, training, or turnover.

The Bottom Line

Staffing isn’t just an HR issue; it’s a powerful strategic and financial lever. And in today’s margin-tight environment, hospital-owned groups can’t afford for operational gaps to become financial liabilities.

As workforce shortages persist across clinical and administrative roles, hospital-owned physician groups need to consider scalable solutions to keep revenue flowing and operations aligned. By aligning with a proven RCM partner like Knack RCM, hospital systems can gain the flexibility, performance, and cost containment needed to protect revenue. From short-term vacancies to system-wide shifts, RCM keeps your teams focused on what matters most: delivering high quality patient care.