Tewksbury, Mass.-based Covenant Health, a Catholic network with locations in six Northeastern states, continues to move forward with outsourcing revenue cycle functions to Ensemble Health Partners.
Ensemble is a revenue cycle management provider with headquarters in Huntersville, N.C., and Mason, Ohio. The company finalized its outsourcing agreement with Covenant in July, and the agreement is slated to take effect Oct. 1.
Covenant said it notified employees of the outsourcing agreement once arrangement details were finalized in July, but also recognized it needed revenue cycle employees during the process of selecting Ensemble and through Oct. 1.
The health system told Becker's about three to five employees at Lewiston, Maine-based St. Mary's Hospital were in the hiring pipeline when discussions with Ensemble concluded, and local hiring by Covenant for revenue cycle employees in Lewiston stopped once Covenant chose Ensemble.
As of Aug. 13, more than 200 Covenant employees were slated to transition to Ensemble.
"Our goal is to retain as many of the remaining [about 150] employees as possible, and we are hoping that by providing options we will be able to accomplish this," said Covenant.
Hospital officials said Ensemble is on site this week at St. Mary's Lewiston to discuss job opportunities with Ensemble, and local human resources teams are talking with employees who are not interested in job opportunities with Ensemble about other open positions within Covenant.
Affected Covenant revenue cycle employees who decide not to transition to Ensemble or take another role within Covenant will receive severance packages and have access to outplacement services.
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