What began as an engagement to assess the operations and revenue cycle for a health system’s physician practice became a two-year partnership leading to strategic decision-making, improved operations, and better care for people in the community.
In today’s complex healthcare environment, health systems and physician practices must operate at strategic efficiency to maximize fiscal and administrative operations. A robust revenue cycle requires experienced assessment, the implementation of controls, and diligent maintenance.
A strong physician recruitment plan assesses the needs of the community to develop a creative compensation and benefits model coordinated with a solid operational management plan. As the practice grows in response to healthcare needs, real estate assets also must be prioritized.
The management of revenue, reimbursement, physician workforce, and healthcare can benefit from a partnership such as the one between PYA and Campbell County Health. This partnership is based on PYA’s radically responsive client service and emphasis on relationships over transactions.
PYA-CCH Partnership: A Timeline of Collaboration
Campbell County Health (CCH) is a regional health system in northeast Wyoming. The system includes a 90-bed acute care hospital, a 152-bed long-term care facility, and a multi-specialty physician practice, Campbell County Medical Group (CCMG), with multiple locations. In late 2021, CCH’s Chief Operating Officer Jerry Klein requested PYA perform an operational and high-level revenue cycle assessment for CCMG.
PYA commenced work in January 2022 and presented its findings and recommendations to CCH’s leadership team in May 2022. According to Mr. Klein, “CCH and CCMG stakeholders were impressed by the level of detail and improvement opportunities noted by PYA in the original engagement, prompting CCH leadership to request PYA’s assistance in implementing the recommendations.”
PYA began the implementation work in June 2022. This engagement included monthly onsite visits centered around practice-specific improvement plans and strategic planning to rebalance CCMG leadership responsibilities and refine organizational structure.
With PYA’s assistance, CCMG developed a Patient Access Center (PAC). This call center, located on CCH’s campus and staffed by CCH employees, provides a central routing system for patient and provider calls. The PAC opened in February 2023 serving a subset of CCMG clinics with plans to accommodate additional clinics as needed.
The PAC has enhanced the patient experience by providing access to the medical group, and it has improved CCMG administrative staff retention. The PAC regularly receives an average of 300 calls per day. The average answer time is two minutes, and less than 1% of calls go to voicemail.
The PYA-CCH partnership continued in September 2022, when CCH asked PYA to assess the health system’s 340B prescription drug program. PYA worked collaboratively with CCH’s pharmacy director and finance team to identify and quantify opportunities for operational improvement. CCH has successfully implemented many of PYA’s recommendations to the benefit of the system and the community it serves.
CCH developed a physician and practitioner recruitment plan to meet growing demand in its primary service area. This recruitment plan created a need to inventory and prioritize best use of CCH’s real estate assets, including its main campus and multiple offsite locations. When CCH expressed this need, PYA connected leaders from Realty Trust Group (RTG), a PYA affiliate who would be able to assist. In February 2023, CCH engaged RTG to conduct a real estate portfolio assessment. The results of this assessment are proving an essential tool to CCH leadership as they plan for future growth and expansion.
Also in February 2023, CCH requested PYA perform a deeper-dive revenue cycle assessment for CCMG. CCH had previously contracted with a revenue cycle management (RCM) vendor to handle all CCMG billing and collections. Due to staffing issues, however, CCH had been unable to properly oversee the vendor relationship. PYA assessed the accuracy and effectiveness of the RCM vendor and made specific recommendations to the leadership team in July 2023.
In September 2023, CCH and PYA began discussing future engagements to build upon the successful, two-year partnership between the two organizations. CCH COO Klein believes “a mutual dedication to collaboration between CCH and PYA has paved the road for a successful partnership and ultimately an enhanced medical group for patients in the CCH service area.”
The partnership between PYA and CCH continues to provide consultation to help the health system’s leadership team envision and attain future growth and refine CCMG’s leadership and operational structure. These strategic improvements are leading to improved care for residents of the region.
If your organization is interested in learning more about other successful PYA partnerships and how this experience might translate to enhanced success of your organization, our executive contacts would be happy to assist. You may contact them at the emails below or at (800) 270-9629.
