Several hospitals and health systems decided to outsource finance jobs or other revenue cycle functions in 2020.
Below is a breakdown of 10 of them:
1. VCU Health System in Richmond, Va., outsourced its revenue cycle functions to Ensemble Health Partners. The health system announced plans to outsource its scheduling, billing and collections in October. The outsource affected about 635 VCU Health employees, who were offered jobs with Ensemble. On Dec. 20, 570 employees moved to Ensemble.
2. Summit Healthcare, a 101-bed hospital with more than 1,308 hospital and clinic employees in Show Low, Ariz., outsourced its revenue cycle functions to Ensemble Health Partners. The deal was announced Oct. 8. No revenue cycle employees lost their positions; instead, they became Ensemble employees.
3. Baylor Scott & White Health in Dallas said it will lay off 102 employees in various finance and accounting roles as part of an effort to reshape operations and reduce costs. The duties of the affected workers will be outsourced to a third-party vendor in India. About 18 of the affected Baylor employees will be offered positions with the vendor, according to the report.
4. LifePoint Health in Brentwood, Tenn., inked a deal to outsource some revenue cycle services to R1 RCM. The revenue cycle management provider will offer services to more than a third of LifePoint Health's hospitals under an agreement the organizations announced Oct. 28.
5. John C. Fremont Healthcare District in Mariposa, Calif., will outsource its billing and coding departments, according to a July report. The hospital cited staff turnover in its decision. The outsource will allow a larger pool of employees to review billing and collections for accuracy. Ten to 15 jobs were outsourced in the transition. Employees affected by the change will be hired by the outsource firm.
6. Fairfield Medical Center in Lancaster, Ohio, will outsource its revenue cycle management functions to Ensemble Health Partners. The hospital announced it selected Ensemble Health as its end-to-end revenue cycle management partner in June.
7. Ballad Health in Johnson City, Tenn., in May entered into a strategic partnership with Ensemble Health Partners to develop a new regional operations center in the Appalachian Highlands to support IT and revenue cycle systems. The health system plans to outsource about 1,100 revenue cycle jobs it currently has to Ensemble. The partnership will also add 500 more RCM or IT-focused employees.
8. Penn State Health in Hershey, Pa., tapped R1 RCM's end-to-end revenue cycle expertise to help drive revenue cycle improvements. The deal was announced in April and will result in some outsourcing of jobs.
9. Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami will outsource some revenue cycle functions to Ensemble Health Partners, which will work to ensure proper reimbursement from payers and boost patient experience. The partnership was announced in February.
10. Rush University Medical Center in Chicago tapped R1 RCM for its end-to-end revenue cycle platform. The deal was announced in January.