What is Revenue cycle management?

Revenue cycle management is the process used by healthcare systems in the United States and all over the world to track the revenue from patients, from their initial appointment or encounter with the healthcare system to their final payment of balance. It is a normal part of health administration. The revenue cycle can be defined as, "all administrative and clinical functions that contribute to the capture, management, and collection of patient service revenue." It is a cycle that describes and explains the life cycle of a patient through a typical healthcare encounter from admission to final payment.