Why We Built Ripple HLTH

Most hospital-based outpatient therapy departments are leaving significant revenue on the table. Not because of demand—but because of poor operations. That’s why we built Ripple HLTH.

The Business Acumen Gap in Clinical Training

Physical, occupational and speech therapists invest large portions of their lives learning to treat patients while earning their professional degrees. And even so, nearly every licensed clinician enters the workforce with little to no business acumen. And it’s not their fault. University curriculums do an exceptionally poor job of teaching therapists how their clinical actions tie to financial outcomes in the real world.

Because of this, we’ve never once met a hospital CFO who thinks their therapy department generates too much profit. We’ve also never met a therapist who thinks they’re overpaid. And more times than not, they’re both right!

Understanding Fixed Costs in Outpatient Therapy Margins

The reality is that outpatient therapy margins are relatively tight. However, they are also relatively simple. The key principle to understand is that outpatient therapy carries very high fixed costs. It’s not uncommon that 90% or more of a therapy department’s costs are fixed. Most of that cost is allocated to wages, benefits, and facility expenses.

As such, it’s paramount that every therapy leader has a deep understanding of their monthly operating costs. Knowing your costs allows for some simple arithmetic to calculate the necessary revenue production to at least achieve break-even performance.

Breaking Down the Net Revenue Formula

Revenue is generated via patient-care services. Although it’s technically not quite this simple, monthly net revenue is essentially your net revenue per visit times the number of visits serviced each month (Monthly Net Revenue = Net Revenue per Visit x Monthly Visit Count). The components of this calculation are where Ripple HLTH excels. Our contingency-based engagements target factors that specifically impact net revenue per visit and total visit production.

Net revenue per visit is derived through the combination of payor contracting regulations and clinical charge capture. Total visit production is analyzed through the efficiency of each discipline’s staffing capacity versus their actual throughput. So, although the individual components effecting net revenue per visit and total visit production are relatively straightforward, analyzing them via a hospital-based EMR can be extremely difficult.

Streamline: An EMR Enhancement Tool Built for Outpatient Therapy

That’s why Ripple HLTH’s proprietary software platform, Streamline, was purpose-built as an EMR enhancement tool for hospital-based outpatient therapy providers. Compatible with the industry’s leading EMRs, Streamline transforms Epic, Cerner, Meditech, CPSI, Athena, Allscripts, and other complex data sets into actionable, operational insights.

The reality is that hospital-based EMRs simply were not built for outpatient therapy. Critical gaps in documentation, compliance, and especially reporting capabilities make it nearly impossible to identify what’s working—and what’s not.

Get a Free Revenue Opportunity Assessment

Streamline’s functionality is what allows Ripple to offer a FREE assessment to every potential client. By analyzing a department’s historical data, we’re able to identify and quantify the revenue opportunities specific to that organization.

Common initiatives include charge capture optimization, billing and coding compliance, clinical documentation improvements (CDI), payor contract management, and denial management and prevention. We ensure that you are fully, accurately and compliantly reimbursed for the care that you provide. No more. No less.

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Partner With Ripple HLTH

Ripple HLTH partners with hospital-based outpatient therapy departments to close the gap between clinical excellence and financial performance. Through our proprietary software platform, Streamline, we transform complex EMR data—from Epic, Cerner, Meditech, CPSI, Athena, Allscripts, and more—into actionable insights that drive revenue, compliance, and operational efficiency. Our contingency-based engagements mean we only succeed when you do.

If you’re in charge of a hospital-based outpatient therapy department, and you’re looking for a therapy partner with deep clinical and operational expertise, we’d love to talk to you today!