Top Revenue Cycle Management Trends to Watch For in 2025

The healthcare industry has had to deal with all kinds of changes in the last few years – staffing shortages, remote working, and rapidly increasing operational costs. On top of these changes, there are a plethora of RCM trends changing the way that providers think about their revenue cycle operations.

In this article, we’ll break down some of the key RCM trends to watch out for in 2025 and how technology can play a role across the revenue cycle. 

Trend 1: Automation in Billing and Coding

Billing and coding can steal precious time from healthcare providers and cause major consequences if done incorrectly. AI and RPA (robotic process automation) technology are leading revenue cycle management trends straight toward automation so that providers no longer have to worry so much about this area.

AI systems empowered with Natural Language Processing (NLP) can automate code assignments and accurately do so in a fraction of the time it would have taken to do so manually. At Adonis, we’ve put AI at the center of billing automation to help healthcare providers minimize billing errors and save time too. Our billing system has an AI-powered scrubber that automatically references both payer and custom rules so that nothing gets missed.

RPA technology is also set to play a big role in 2025. Used for less complex tasks than AI, it’s still a vital part of reducing human error and streamlining revenue systems. RPA can be used to retrieve patient information, automate data entry, cross-check claims against payer guidelines, and perform numerous other tasks that speed up billing and coding. This saves time and removes the hassle of having to hire team members to stay on top of RCM admin.

Tools like Adonis Billing can deliver automated pre-certification checks, touch-free claim submissions, and real-time denial mitigation strategies to streamline your billing operations. Learn more.

Trend 2: Integration of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

It’s not just billing that AI can assist with. AI-powered technology can be used to predict denials, spot trends, and enhance overall decision-making processes. It all comes down to patterns and historical data. AI models can look at past data and use that information to identify common factors that lead to claim denials and, with ML, can even pick up high-risk claims and fraud issues.

Adonis Intelligence, for example, is an AI-powered solution that monitors RCM data, analyzes trends, alerts teams to potential denials, flags underpayments, and more. In doing so, the technology not only helps healthcare providers get a better grasp on their current revenue but look ahead and see where things could be optimized going forward.

Adonis Intelligence’s Smart Focus feature allows you to see exactly which claims have the greatest impact on the bottom line and need to be prioritized. That’s where revenue cycle management trends in 2025 are really headed – it’s not just about improving day-to-day operations but using technology like AI and ML to kick-start teams toward more informed decision-making and better financial performance overall.

Trend 3: Enhanced Patient Payment Solutions

As stressful as billing can be for healthcare providers, it’s often equally hard for patients to keep a handle on. So much of that has to do with systems that only have providers in mind, without considering the patient experience. The result of that isn’t just late payments but high collection costs and the risk of a contentious relationship developing between patients and their providers.

One of the key RCM trends we’re seeing in 2025 is more transparent and flexible payment solutions that meet patients where they’re at. Mobile apps are leading the charge and helping to reduce the complicated paperwork that often overwhelms patients and delays them in paying their bills. Many platforms are also integrating features that make it easier for patients to know what they’re covered for, what they’ll be paying, and how they can get help if they need it.

This is empowering for patients and providers alike. It makes things easier for patients to stay on top of their bills, which streamlines revenue cycles while simultaneously reducing how much legwork health practitioners need to do in terms of making patients aware of their options.

Trend 4: Expansion of Value-Based Care Models

Value-based care (VBC) has been hugely transformative in the healthcare space, and now it’s influencing RCM trends as well.  This makes sense considering that value-based care, which prioritizes quality of care above quantity of services provided, has shifted metrics and billing approaches in many healthcare practices.

The success of a revenue cycle isn’t down to the volume of services being processed anymore, but rather overall outcomes. To match that, many have shifted away from charging per service (eg, blood draw, visits, etc.) to bundled payments instead, which revenue cycle management tools are working to adjust to. 

Many of these tools have embraced tracking care episodes rather than just individual procedures by monitoring data that looks at how a patient is doing overall and not just the number of visits they’ve come in for. This, as a result, is helping to further incentivize and expand value-based care models.

Trend 5: Increased Focus on Data Analytics for Revenue Cycle Insights

Bigger and better data analytics are proving to be one of the driving revenue cycle management trends for 2025. The reason is simple: the technology has gotten much more adept at helping practices identify inefficiencies and optimize their revenue cycle performance through actionable insights.

Historical data allows for reflection on where things have gone wrong and gaps that need to be addressed, while real-time data ensures that any coding errors or claims denials are picked up as they happen so that they don’t snowball. It’s so much easier for organizations to act on delayed payments, etc., if they can see exactly what’s going on in real-time. 

It makes it easier to prioritize which payments to follow up on and allows for more informed decisions on where intervention is needed and whether it’s worth offering a patient a payment plan.

Trend 6: Regulatory Changes and Compliance Challenges

Regulatory changes are a constant struggle for healthcare providers. Inflation and policy changes frequently trickle down into adjusted reimbursement rates, and with each adjustment, healthcare providers then have to re-think how they track and secure payments. RCM trends in 2025 are all about supporting the healthcare industry through these changes and making compliance easier.

Automated billing and coding audits are a significant part of this and ensure fewer claim denials, as is adjusting payment models to be more in line with the growing focus on VBC. Both government and private organizations are also introducing new billing codes to track social determinants of health (SDOH), which again, RCM automation is making it easier to track and process so that claims submissions are more successful.

Trend 7: Blockchain Technology in Healthcare Payments

Blockchain is one of the most exciting revenue cycle management trends. The technology makes healthcare payment systems safer and improves fraud prevention. This is because once a transaction is recorded on the blockchain, it can’t be altered or deleted without agreement across the payment network.

This makes it nearly impossible for fraudulent tampering to happen and helps maintain payment integrity. There are also huge advantages when it comes to payment reconciliation as the blockchain makes all the necessary data available to both patient and provider. This minimizes the risk of discrepancies occurring, which can slow down revenue cycle processes.

From a patient data perspective, the blockchain also keeps sensitive information safer from breaches and protects people from potential identity theft, etc. 

Trend 8: Remote Work and Its Impact on Revenue Cycle Management

The reason data privacy is so top of mind and why technology like blockchain matters in RCM trends isn’t just because of sensitive patient data but the pressure that remote work and telemedicine have placed on how information is managed. Care providers and patients are inputting data remotely and managing billing remotely, as well. This has meant that RCM tools have had to build more robust data privacy measures than ever so that remote working doesn’t accidentally expose patients or their histories. 

Another adjustment has been a greater allowance for remote team collaboration and the ability to securely perform RCM tasks from anywhere. So many practices rely on remote billing teams and working with them, on or out of office, needs to feel seamless. The RCM’s we’re seeing in 2025 are making that integration easier than ever by centering everything on a single platform that can be used by multiple team members at once.

Conclusion

Revenue cycle management trends are pushing technology to new heights so that billing, coding, and payment reconciliation aren’t just faster and more accurate, but they’re also more aligned with patient care and regulatory compliance.

Adopting some of the RCM trends mentioned can help healthcare organizations optimize from every angle and improve their financial standing, as well as patient relationships. To continue learning about how trends like AI are taking shape in 2025, read our new eBook.

Learn more about Adonis Billing and Intelligence, chat with a member of our team or request a demo.