Financial/Revenue Cycle Management

(SPONSORED) Two healthcare business strategists from McKesson explain how hospitals and retail pharmacies can work together to improve the health of their patients as well as their own financial health.

Execs hope deal will turn system developed for UPMC into one that could be adapted for other health systems and hospitals.

Navigant Consulting has acquired revenue cycle-focused McKinnis Consulting Services for $49 million in cash and $3 million in common stock, the companies announced on Monday. The deal means more than 70 of McKinnis’ consultants will join Navigant, and all three McKinnis founders, James McHugh, Timothy Kinney, and John Morris, will join Navigant’s revenue cycle leadership team.  Chicago-based McKinnis Consulting Services offers revenue cycle assessment services to clients including academic medical centers, health systems and physicians groups. Navigant is a global firm with clients in the healthcare, energy and financial services industries offering professional services in areas including financial planning, risk management and business process management. “The McKinnis transaction is purpose-driven to expand our RCM capabilities at a time when health system margins are under greater scrutiny,” said David Zito, managing director and Navigant healthcare segment leader.  “The McKinnis professionals, which include the firm’s founders, further complement our ability to help clients navigate through the disruptions in the healthcare sector.” McKinnis has worked with major health systems including Indiana’s Parkview Health, which it helped manage through its Epic electronic health records integration, and John Muir Health in California, which it helped overhaul its revenue cycle systems. In fact, Mckinnis said it helped John Muir see a 98 percent increase in self-pay yield, 9 percent increase in third-party liability yield and a 20 percent increase in point-of-service cash collections. Twitter: @BethJSanborn

Supply chain costs ranks second only to reimbursement problems as the issue top of mind for hospital executives today, according to a new national survey commissioned by healthcare services company Cardinal Health.

As healthcare and technology professionals gather to share strategies for optimizing revenue cycle management in a challenging and fast-changing reimbursement environment, Healthcare IT News' sister publication Healthcare Finance offers live updates.

The Friday deadline to submit your proposal for the HIMSS and Healthcare Finance News Revenue Cycle Solutions Summit in Las Vegas, Feb. 29, at the HIMSS16 Annual Conference is fast approaching.

In a deal that will have implications for rural and community hospitals as well as the post-acute care market, Computer Programs and Systems announced Nov. 25 that it would acquire rival Healthland Holding and its affiliates for $250 million.

As ICD-10 looms, value-based reimbursement remains clouded in uncertainty and many technology vendors under-deliver on their promises, more and more hospitals are outsourcing their revenue cycle management processes.

A group of individuals has slapped two D.C. hospitals with a class action lawsuit, alleging that their charges for requesting medical records -- ranging from $1,168 to $2,500 -- violate state and federal regulations.

The new BCBS Axis now compiles detailed data on more than 2.3 billion procedures from all 36 independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies, representing some $350 billion in annual claims. The aim? Better outcomes at lower cost.