The expanding influence of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation on revenue cycle management (RCM) dominated the AGS Health news cycle during the second half of 2025, but it wasn’t the only focus. Several AGS Health leaders offered advice on complying with the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) changes in the new fiscal year and ways physician practices can strengthen denial management processes.
In The AI-Driven Evolution of Revenue Cycle Management, chief information officer Thomas Thatapudi, MBA, explored the ways AI and automation can reduce inefficiencies in RCM while optimizing financial workflows, and enhancing the patient experience—and why a pragmatic approach is necessary to generate a sustainable impact on efficiency, finances, care access, and quality outcomes. He also discussed AI’s potential to address RCM pain points, while also predicting that human interactions will not disappear from workflows anytime soon and outlined automation’s role in streamlining RCM workflows.
In Agentic AI Agents and the Future of Healthcare RCM Workflow Automation, Thomas explained why high-complexity tasks requiring nuanced human judgment are ideal for agentic AI. However, deriving optimal value and ROI from a digital workforce requires a keen understanding of what digital agents are—and following a proven set of best practices to ensure the digital workforce is positioned for acceptance and success.
Leigh Poland, RHIA, CCS, vice president of coding services, took a deep dive into 2026 IPPS and, in 2026 IPPS Expands MS-DRGs, Updates Quality Programs, explored the adjustments that coders, providers, and finance and administration leaders needed to make to adjust to several key changes, including new MS-DRGs and broad policy changes.
On the technology front, Ryan Christiansen, vice president - software and technology, was also focused on agentic AI, breaking down how it is reshaping RCM, how early adopters are driving rapid returns, and what the future holds for AI-powered revenue cycles in Agentic AI: Revolutionizing Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management.
Addressing the front end of the revenue cycle, Ryan Chapin, executive director of strategic solutions, delved into how a centralized patient access model can counteract the internal and external forces driving a domino effect of front-end RCM issues. In How Centralized Patient Access Can Fix RCM and Staff Shortages, he shared how to create a seamless, cohesive approach across all facets of front-end RCM that accelerates the revenue cycle by reducing payment delays caused by front-end errors, minimizing rescheduled appointments, and improving patient satisfaction.
Senior vice president of transitions Debra Stall shared tips to help physician practices enhance cash flow, reduce administrative burden, and improve patient satisfaction. Specifically, in Leveraging denial tracking to root out systemic issues, she focused on why practices should transition to proactive denial management for a more solid footing.
Principal product manager Sandhya Ravi discussed how health IT can help providers reduce denials and improve the success rate of claim reimbursements by assisting revenue cycle leaders with intuitive and interactive data management tools. He also shared recommendations on the most effective tools and technologies for real-time insights into financial performance and RCM metrics, noting that building a high-performing, data-driven RCM ecosystem requires the seamless integration of those technologies to create an infrastructure that identifies issues as they arise and empowers strategic, data-informed decision-making.
AGS Health experts also shared insights into how agentic AI can transform RCM and why it represents a smarter path forward for revenue cycle leaders. The case was also made for why leadership must focus on operational resilience and technology enablement to transform revenue cycles for a more sustainable and intelligent RCM future.
Contact us to learn how AGS Health can help you apply AI, automation, and data-driven strategies to your revenue cycle while strengthening compliance, cash flow, and the patient financial experience.
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