ATLANTA, April 28, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MedAssets (Nasdaq:MDAS) today announced that Athens Regional Medical Center (ARMC), the 350-plus bed anchor hospital for Athens Regional Health System, has expanded its engagement with the company in a broad-scale technology initiative designed to optimize revenue cycle operations. ARMC's multi-phased agreement will deploy MedAssets end-to-end portfolio of Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) solutions to upgrade and standardize its technology environment.
"Similar to most healthcare organizations, managing multiple technology systems presents a challenge to achieving aggregated reporting and best practice workflows and processes," said Wendy Cook, senior vice president and chief financial officer, Athens Regional Medical Center. "At the same time, we needed to upgrade our system capabilities to address pricing strategies and how our patients perceive value, prepare for ICD-10, as well as manage a more complex and challenging payor environment. MedAssets offers a robust set of exception-driven technologies that can improve revenue cycle operations in all these areas and more, plus its software is agnostic to enterprise platforms to support better corporate transparency. We look forward to achieving process improvements while also attaining greater reimbursement yield."
Holistic Approach to Improve Revenue Performance
The new, expanded agreement builds upon ARMC's use of MedAssets Charge, Pricing and Compliance Solutions for more accurate and compliant charging as well as defensible and consistent pricing for improved revenue capture and reimbursement. To support its broad-scale RCM initiative, the following MedAssets solutions were selected to support ARMC's operational focus:
- Contract and Episode Management Solutions to improve payor contract analysis and revenue forecasting, and better identify underpayments to capture increased net revenue
- Claims and Billing Solutions that leverage healthcare information management (HIM) and coding expertise to automate the identification of missing charges, overcharges and claim coding errors
- Recovery and Collections Solutions that reduce denials and cost to collect, as well as improve staff workflow and decision support capabilities to capture and prioritize all necessary collections data
- Patient Access Solutions that offer pricing transparency for patient financial clearance and increased automation and accuracy in upfront collection of patient out-of-pocket responsibilities
"As care providers like ARMC adjust to the changing healthcare marketplace, it is critical to re-evaluate existing technology capabilities against best practices necessary to generate overall performance improvement," said Amy Amick, president, Revenue Cycle Management, MedAssets. "Our end-to-end, Web-based portfolio and expert services help healthcare providers to improve business operations in a way that is non-disruptive, low-risk and demonstrates real impact. This includes the ability to navigate emerging trends such as the increasing role of the consumer, shifting payment models and the increasing complexity of A/R management. We look forward to continuing to support ARMC in achieving best practices throughout the revenue cycle management continuum."
About Athens Regional Health System:
Athens Regional Health System is one of Northeast Georgia's largest health care systems. Comprised of an acute care facility with 350-plus beds, four urgent care centers, a quality network of physicians and specialists, a health maintenance organization and a home health agency, Athens Regional is a progressive health care system committed to excellence and dedicated to improving the health, wellness and quality of life of our communities. The cornerstone of the Health System is Athens Regional Medical Center. Athens Regional is a Level II Trauma Center, a Level III Neonatal ICU, and functions as THE regional referral center, offering services such as maternal/child, advanced imaging, minimally invasive surgeries, an American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer approved oncology department and a nationally recognized cardiovascular program. Athens Regional Medical Center recently became the second hospital in the state of Georgia to offer a new technology that provides physicians a safer and more effective way to treat patients suffering from atrial fibrillation. Athens Regional was recently recognized for the 4th consecutive year as a TOP 100 hospital in the nation by WomenCertified; among the best hospitals in the region for gastroenterology, pulmonary, neurology, neurosurgery and general surgical procedures according to US News and World Report; and twice named the Large Hospital of the Year for the State of Georgia by the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals. Athens Regional is the only locally owned and governed Health System in the region it serves. For more information, visit www.athenshealth.org.
About MedAssets
MedAssets (Nasdaq:MDAS) is a healthcare performance improvement company focused on helping providers realize financial and operational gains so that they can sustainably serve the needs of their community. Approximately 4,500 hospitals and 123,000 non-acute healthcare providers currently use the company's evidence-based solutions, best practice processes and analytics to help reduce the total cost of care, enhance operational efficiency, align clinical delivery, and improve revenue performance across the care continuum. For more information, please visit www.medassets.com.
MDAS/B