Navigant/Baptist Health joint venture, Health System Solutions, leverages data transparency and employee empowerment to enhance revenue cycle performance.
Cross-Departmental Collaboration
Employee Engagement Vital to Success
Challenge
In 2016, Baptist Health South Florida was exploring strategies to enhance its revenue cycle operations while furthering its commitment to improving patient and employee engagement. Similar to providers nationwide, the Coral Gables-based health system was challenged with collecting payment for services provided, especially with patients responsible for more of their healthcare costs through high-deductible health plans. The situation was magnified by growing consumer demand for a more connected care experience, as well as growth and margin compression due to reimbursement evolution.
SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
This article appeared in the Fourth Quarter 2019 issue of The Navigator.
Some providers have explored partnerships or outsourcing to enhance revenue cycle efficiencies. After a series of discussions buoyed by the announcement of a revenue cycle outsourcing arrangement at UAB Medicine, Baptist Health leveraged its long-standing relationship with Navigant to create Health System Solutions (HSS), a joint venture entity to manage its revenue cycle operations.
HSS opened its doors on July 9, 2018, with 560 employees transitioned from Baptist Health’s revenue cycle department to HSS. The new organization combines Baptist Health’s highly skilled staff and focus on quality service with Navigant’s Best in KLAS revenue cycle outsourcing expertise, innovative processes, and scale. Led by a team of revenue cycle executives from all three organizations, HSS manages Baptist Health’s revenue cycle, including health information management, revenue integrity, patient access, and physician revenue management.
Solution
Matthew Arsenault
Executive Vice President and CFO
Baptist Health South Florida
That the Health System Solutions team was able to launch a new company, transition 560 employees and add dozens more, and still drive this level of success, is a true statement to the team's dedication, focus, and leadership.
Goal Setting and Data Transparency
Impact
Our team took great pride in working at Baptist Health, and they realized they could bring the best of that culture to Health System Solutions and mold it based on their identities. They're embracing the challenge of adapting to new skills, technologies, and processes.
Marilia Garner
CEO, Health System Solutions
Close
One of the first steps HSS’ leadership team took was to leverage Navigant data to clearly define a series of hospital and physician key performance indicators (KPIs) by department, and implement a system to consistently and transparently monitor progress. The approach allows the entire HSS team to identify what’s working and what isn’t, and target areas for improvement. It also has given physicians, clinicians, and Baptist Health’s senior leadership team a direct line of sight into performance.
Goal Setting and Data Transparency
Data is at the heart of HSS. Having clearly defined and constantly tracked departmental goasl has been empowering for employees, and it has helped promote collaboration and accountability across the company.
Marilia Garner
CEO, Health System Solutions
Close
Recognized 19 times by Fortune as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work for in America, Baptist Health wanted to ensure the joint venture provided opportunities for team members to grow in their careers while avoiding direct layoffs.
Employee recognition and training programs developed and implemented by HSS’ human resources team have been core to success. Employee incentives are structured to appropriately reward high performance and provide opportunities for development and advancement. Moreover, employees receive leadership and patient engagement training as part of HSS’ continued focus on providing Baptist Health’s patients with optimal customer service. Employees cite the trust, personal attention, and support HSS’ leadership team displays as a key to establishing a sense of companywide camaraderie and pride.
Employee Engagement Vital to Success
Close
To enhance collaboration across departments and create a better understanding of the revenue cycle, a governance structure was developed, composed of leaders from HSS, Navigant, and Baptist Health. Structured governance committees and councils meet monthly to share results, successes, and challenges that are then shared with HSS employees. Weekly team huddles have been implemented to monitor and review progress. The governance structure has also been effective in engaging Baptist Health clinicians to improve revenue cycle performance.
Cross-Departmental Collaboration
Goal Setting and Data Transparency
Employee Engagement Vital to Success
Cross-Departmental Collaboration
Results
Successfully
Achieved all five physician KPIs, including 15% Physician Net Collection Ratio
transitioned 560 Baptist Health employees
to new HSS joint venture with
Successfully transitioned 560 Baptist Health employees to new HSS joint venture with no layoffs and added 60-plus employees
no layoffs
and
added
all five physician KPIs
Achieved
, including
15%
Physician Net Collection Ratio
Dramatic improvements in hospital KPIs:
9%
Point of Service Collection
(Achieved 3% best practice)
60-plus employees
28%
Discharged Not
Submitted to Payer
16%
Initial Denials
21%
Accounts Receivable
> 90 days
2%
Insurance Yield
13%
Self-Pay After Insurance
$28M
Net Patient Revenue
Cost to Collect 2.9% to 2.6%
Monthly Cash Acceleration
$15M