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“We’ve worked closely with MedAssets to develop a customized approach to address our key business goals. This has benefitted Ivinson Memorial Hospital tremendously and we continue to see improvements month over month. Ivinson Memorial Hospital maintains good financial health and is able to keep focused on the delivery of quality patient care.”

– Karl Vilums, Chief Financial Officer, Ivinson Memorial Hospital

Ivinson Memorial Hospital, a 99-bed facility in Laramie, Wyoming, plays an important role in its community by serving patients in the surrounding county and as the second largest employer in its town. Significant turnover in its executive team, however, took a toll on the hospital, creating inefficiencies, compliances issues and a lack of trust from its constituents.

Ivinson Memorial Hospital, like many hospitals, was experiencing an underperforming revenue cycle. While its cash base was strong enough fortunately to keep it viable, its cash on hand was limited and the hospital was experiencing monthly losses from operations. In early 2008, Ivinson Memorial Hospital’s net accounts receivable (A/R) days were 91 days versus an average industry benchmark of 55 days. A result of billing inefficiencies and challenges with payor rules and charge code compliance, the hospital had a zero percent clean claims rate, meaning not one bill it produced was completely correct.

Faced with this stark reality, the new leadership team was determined to embrace a proactive approach to improve people, processes and technology and to regain the trust of the community.

Initially, Ivinson Memorial Hospital’s leadership though they would have to manage multiple vendors to accomplish its improvement goals. Based on a recommendation, the MedAssets team was brought in to access Ivinson’s current performance and to recommend an approach to achieve its goals. MedAssets designed a transformational program for Ivinson Memorial hospital, which provided an onsite team of revenue cycle consultants, to redesign processes and implement several revenue cycle technologies to achieve cash infusion.

With input and agreement from Ivinson Memorial hospital executives, MedAssets consultants prioritized a project plan with a focus on the hospital’s goals. The plan included reviews of people, processes and technology in order to determine the appropriate staffing numbers; establish prioritization, cues and work prompts, where many hospitals see the most benefit; and ensure Ivinson Memorial Hospital had the right tools available for its staff.

As part of Ivinson Memorial Hospital’s technology turnaround, MedAssets rebuilt the accounts receivable process by establishing the immediate use of A/R Services for the hospital’s aged A/R accounts. MedAssets implemented Claims Management and Chargemaster tools to address charge code compliance, billing inefficiencies and challenges with payer rules. Charge Capture was installed to identify potential lost revenue and charge issues before claims are submitted. MedAssets also put a point-of-service collections program in place, ensuring that patients are registered and go through a pre-certification process prior to admittance.

In only a year working with MedAssets, Ivinson Memorial Hospital generated a 193 percent return on its investment. With a net benefit of $4.6 million in cash, equal to an extra 2-3 month’s worth of revenue, the hospital’s balance sheet has never looked better. The turnaround has also been experienced in Ivinson Memorial Hospital’s internal organization.

Placing consultants onsite provided technology adoption assistance and process input, which in turn impacts the hospital’s culture. For example, MedAssets helped managers become empowered to address and resolve issues, improving their long-term job satisfaction.

From IT to patient finance, these process improvements help employees do their jobs well and their familiarity with the technology is benefitting the hospital. Billing is running efficiently. Net A/R days are currently 67 days and continuing to improve monthly.