A hospital network that is going to be outsourcing its revenue cycle management functions to a third-party is likely to lay off as many as 150 workers, according to a published report.
Covenant Health will be eliminating 360 positions as part of the switch, two-thirds of which are expected to be hired by the company’s new RCM provider, Ensemble Health Partners.
About 12 employees with St. Joseph Healthcare in Bangor, Maine, 78 employees with St. Mary’s Health System in Lewiston, Maine, and 46 workers at St. Joseph Hospital in Nashua, N.H. have not been offered jobs with Ensemble, according to the report.
“Now, more than ever, it is essential that we work efficiently and effectively to ensure a positive patient experience throughout every point of the care process,” said Covenant Health President and Chief Executive Stephen Grubbs in a news release. “The Ensemble team brings industry expertise to the daily work of recognizing and collecting revenue — and freeing resources to support care delivery. This partnership will help us establish an efficient, integrated and aligned revenue cycle that delivers best practice services.”
Ensemble recently announced it is looking to hire an additional 1,100 employees as it moves into a new corporate headquarters in Ohio. The company has more than 3,600 employees working with hospitals in 30 states. As well, Bon Secours Mercy Health System recently sold its majority stake in Ensemble to Golden Gate Capital, a private equity firm, for a reported $1.2 billion.
Covenant has decided to outsource its RCM functions because it has had too many troubles trying to implement a new electronic health records system, which it started installing 18 months ago.
“In this particular case, the challenges relate to the functions of the revenue cycle,” said a spokeswoman for the healthcare network. “We need to be able to move charges through the billing cycle in an efficient way, in a correct way, and we’ve had difficulty doing that.”
