Primary care leaders don’t need another headline to tell them what’s happening.

You’re living it.

Open roles stay open. Teams are covering more ground than ever. And the people who remain are quietly absorbing the pressure.

When staffing gaps widen, the work doesn’t disappear — it shifts. Most often, it lands on finance and billing. Overtime becomes the norm. Margins get tighter. Capacity shrinks.

And all of this is happening in an environment where reimbursement isn’t exactly generous. Medicare and Medicaid updates remain modest. Managed care oversight grows more complex. Cash flow feels less predictable.

That’s before you even factor in the weight of manual processes.

The Hidden Drag of Manual Work

Many primary care organizations are still relying on spreadsheets, disconnected systems, and manual data entry to run core financial operations.

Years ago, that may have been manageable.

Today? It creates friction everywhere.

When Month-End Never Really Ends

Manual billing and reconciliations stretch close cycles from days into weeks. Leadership decisions get delayed. Errors become more likely.

For multi-location practices or organizations with multiple entities, it gets even harder. Excel-heavy workarounds make consolidation clunky. Responding quickly to payer mix shifts or reimbursement changes? Nearly impossible.

What should be a strategic checkpoint becomes a recurring stress cycle.

Administrative Pressure Isn’t Slowing Down

Prior authorizations are increasing. Audit scrutiny is intensifying. Value-based contracts demand stronger documentation and reporting.

When systems don’t talk to each other, teams spend their time chasing numbers instead of analyzing them. And when cost and quality data can’t be connected, practices take on more risk than they realize in value-based arrangements.

The financial impact is real.

So is the human one.

The Cost You Don’t See on the Balance Sheet

Manual workflows don’t just slow processes — they wear people down.

• Cash flow lags when billing falls behind
• Audit readiness suffers when data trails are messy
• Overtime rises as teams scramble to keep up
• Morale drops when skilled professionals are stuck doing repetitive work

In a setting where every dollar and every hour matter, inefficiency becomes a silent margin killer.

And burnout doesn’t stay contained to one department.

Automation Isn’t About Replacing People

It’s about giving them better tools.

In primary care finance, that can mean:

• AP and AR automation that eliminates hand-keying
• Smart matching and routed approvals for invoices
• Automated bank reconciliations and recurring journal entries
• AI-assisted invoice capture and coding

The goal isn’t just speed.

It’s clarity.

When repetitive tasks are automated, finance teams can shift their focus to margin analysis, payer performance, and strategic planning — the work that actually moves the organization forward.

What This Looks Like in the Real World

This isn’t theoretical. Organizations are already seeing measurable results.

CareATC saved 40–60 hours per month in accounts payable work and recouped their investment within three months each year. As their CFO put it:
“Automation freed up our team to focus on analysis, not just data entry.”

Whole Family Health Center reduced month-end close from 20 days to 7 — a 65% improvement. Their Controller shared:
“Month-end close used to take weeks — now it’s days. We can finally see margins by payer and service line.”

Hunter Health FQHC increased finance team efficiency by 75% and shortened close by 67%.

These aren’t isolated wins. Across the country, practices are strengthening visibility, reducing burnout, and improving financial stability.

Why This Moment Matters

Primary care is highly fragmented — roughly 134,000 practices generating an estimated $336 billion in annual revenue. Growth is projected through 2030.

Yet many organizations still operate on legacy systems or entry-level accounting platforms.

Meanwhile:

• Programs like PCF, ACO-REACH, and Medicare Advantage demand near real-time cost analytics
• Quarterly reconciliations and quality reporting are becoming standard
• Private equity roll-ups and health system acquisitions are creating complex, multi-entity structures almost overnight

Without stronger financial infrastructure, consolidation complicates reporting, audit readiness, and lender compliance.

Practices need to:

• Identify loss-making contracts
• Track denial trends
• Model payer mix changes
• Understand cost by provider and service line

And they need to do it quickly.

Manual processes simply can’t keep pace.

What Automation Makes Possible

When implemented thoughtfully, automation enables:

• Real-time reporting by provider, payer, or service line
• Drill-down dashboards for confident decision-making
• Faster scenario modeling for value-based risk
• Cleaner audit trails and stronger compliance readiness

Instead of reacting to financial surprises, leadership teams can anticipate them.

That shift — from reactive to proactive — is where real stability begins.

Protect Your People. Protect Your Margins.

The labor shortage in primary care isn’t easing anytime soon. Continuing to rely on spreadsheet-driven workflows isn’t sustainable — for your people or your bottom line.

Automation offers a practical path forward.

• It shortens close cycles.
• It strengthens visibility.
• It reduces burnout.

And it positions your organization to compete in an increasingly complex reimbursement landscape.

Primary care’s mission is delivering quality care to patients.

Your finance infrastructure should support that mission — not stand in its way.

If your back office feels stretched thin, it may be time to rethink how the work gets done.

Why LBMC

LBMC Technology Solutions helps healthcare organizations modernize their financial and operational systems so teams can work smarter; not longer.

We partner with primary care practices to implement automation, improve reporting visibility, and integrate systems that support value-based care, multi-entity growth, and stronger financial performance. From AP and AR automation to ERP implementation and dashboard reporting, we help turn manual processes into scalable infrastructure.

The goal is simple: reduce back-office strain, improve clarity, and give leadership the insight needed to make confident decisions.

If your finance team feels stretched thin, we’re here to help you build a more efficient, future-ready foundation.

Download our mini report, “Burnout Isn’t Just Clinical—It’s in the Back Office Too,” to discover how automation can transform your finance operations.