In a move that will add government program patient eligibility and enrollment services to its revenue cycle management suite, Emdeon has announced its agreement to acquire Chamberlin Edmonds & Associates, which serves more than 200 acute care facilities in 30 states.
Chamberlin Edmonds uses technology designed to help hospitals lower the incidence of uncompensated care, reduce bad-debt expense and increase overall cash flow. Emdeon will acquire the Atlanta-based, privately held company for $260 million in cash.
"The acquisition of Chamberlin Edmonds continues Emdeon's strategic expansion into technology-enabled services that drive meaningful value for our customers and make healthcare more efficient," said George Lazenby, Emdeon's CEO. "As government programs continue to expand under healthcare reform, hospitals will need better tools to lower the rate of uncompensated care and increase cash flows. The combined company will be able to offer enhanced revenue cycle services designed to help providers navigate the complex systems related to government reimbursement."
Focusing on Medicaid, Social Security Disability, state disability, charity care and other community benefit programs, Chamberlin Edmonds' service model features staff nurses, trained social services personnel and government program specialists that are located on-site at a hospital and collaborate with the hospital's revenue cycle team. The 25-year-old company uses regional resolution centers and centralized back office infrastructure to deliver eligibility services from initial patient referral through the post-application resolution process.
The Congressional Budget Office projects that healthcare reform will result in Medicaid volumes growing from 39 million to 55 million eligible individuals by 2014. This will likely impact providers because the amount of uncompensated care provided to low-income or unemployed patients is greatly affected by the amount of state Medicaid funding.
Emdeon officials say that an integration of their revenue cycle management solutions with Chamberlin Edmonds' enrollment services will give providers an enhanced platform to assist patients in applying for financial assistance programs and increase the likelihood of receiving payments for services provided to those patients.
"Chamberlin Edmonds has created a scalable technology-enabled service delivery platform that blends national reach and perspective with local delivery and knowledge," said T. Ulrich Brechbuhl, Chamberlin Edmonds' president and CEO. "By joining Emdeon, we are significantly better positioned to offer the full suite of tools, technologies, services and expertise required to build an optimized eligibility process, from screening through enrollment and cash recovery, to hospitals nationwide."
For the six months ended June 30, 2010, Chamberlin Edmonds' revenue was approximately $46.3 million. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter.