Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Wake Forest Baptist Health will bring back about 800 outsourced billing services jobs, according to the Winston Salem-Journal, which cites a federal notice.
The health system's vendor, Alpharetta, Ga.-based revenue cycle management company nThrive, said in the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice that it plans to cut about 800 jobs in Wake, Forsyth, Davidson, Guilford and Randolph counties in North Carolina.
The vendor said affected employees, which include patient services representatives, professional coders and accounts receivable specialists, will be terminated from nThrive on Dec. 31.
The move was attributed to Wake Forest Baptist Health's insourcing of some services outsourced to nThrive in 2017. Under the 2017 outsourcing agreement, nThrive has managed professional billing for Wake Forest Baptist Health and health system and Cornerstone Health Care outpatient clinics and hospital outpatient departments affiliated with the health system.
Kevin High, MD, president of Wake Forest Baptist Health System, confirmed to Becker's Hospital Review that the health system and vendor have agreed to realign staff and services associated with professional billing services under the health system's employment and management.
Dr. High said about 800 affected nThrive staff members, who are in roles slated for transition Jan. 1, have received employment offers at Wake Forest Baptist Health.
"As we look to establish further strategic health system partnerships, we believe reconsolidating our registration and billing services is the best decision for our organization," he said.
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