healthleaders: INSIDE VHC HEALTH’S 15-YEAR RCM PARTNERSHIP

By Jasmyne Ray

The partnership will provide end to end coverage of the system’s revenue cycle functions.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• According to Zabrowski, the system will get more value out of a 15-year partnership, compared to a 10-year partnership.
• A shared governance council composed of system executives and team leads alongside representatives from the RCM partner will oversee the partnership.

When it comes to revenue cycle management solutions, for Virginia Health Center, it’s not about finding the tools to complete tasks but finding the right tools to support its revenue cycle workers.

Earlier this month, VHC Health announced an exclusive, 15-year partnership with Med-Metrix, a revenue cycle management solution provider, for end-to-end coverage of the system’s revenue cycle functions.

According to John Zabrowski, senior vice president, chief financial officer, and chief strategy officer at VHC Health, while the system has an exceptionally high performing team, there were some challenges keeping them from reaching their full potential.

“The thing that we really wanted to solve was making sure that our associates had the right tools, the right technology, and the right support so they could do their jobs,” Zabrowski told HealthLeaders. Additionally, the system also wanted to provide an opportunity for people to advance within their current roles to encourage career growth and increase employee satisfaction and engagement.

The system had already established a relationship with Med-Metrix for different ancillary services and as they considered different RCM providers, the familiarity and demonstrated reliability set them apart from the rest.

“When we coupled our past experience with a thorough review and understanding of what else we could bring by moving that relationship a little deeper into an end-to-end process, it just made a lot of sense,” Zabrowski said.

Additionally, a 15-year agreement, compared to 10-years, he said, will allow the system to get more value from the partnership.

“My view is in a 10-year deal, you’re really getting seven years of value and I just don’t find that to be worth the effort,” Zabrowski explained. “If I take those same time frames, I can generate 12 years of value on a 15-year deal and spend a lot more time executing, refining, and driving value for the system.”

As the system begins to implement the partnership, a shared governance council composed of Med-Metrix and VHC partners will develop 30- and 60-day plans and identify priorities and high value areas within the system’s revenue cycle.

Consistent with the system’s cultural “people first” philosophy, in addition to C-suite leaders like the chief information officer and chief operating officer, revenue cycle leads are also part of the shared governance council.

“It’s a very clear open governance structure to make sure that from an overall management perspective, our priorities remain aligned, and we’ve got real clear communication,” Zabrowski said.

Jasmyne Ray is the revenue cycle editor at HealthLeaders.