VHA, Inc., a national network of not-for-profit healthcare organizations that work together to drive savings in the supply chain arena, has signed an agreement with Altanta-based RelayHealth for financial clearance services.
VHA has selected RelayHealth's RevRunner as a supplier of financial clearance services. The agreement establishes revenue management educational opportunities along with preferential pricing for VHA's members, which include more than 1,400 not-for-profit hospitals and 23,000 non-acute care organizations.
"A rising number of uninsured and self-pay accounts are creating the need for sophisticated front-end payment methods," said Amy Anthony, VHA's senior vice president of supply chain services. "We're excited to collaborate with RelayHealth, whose proven track record is well known for helping hospitals maintain fiscal solvency."
RelayHealth's RevRunner financial clearance services are designed to help hospitals and health systems improve performance either upon admission or immediately after scheduling an appointment.
According to Jim Bodenbender, RelayHealth's business unit president, RevRunner's three distinct functions are eligibility verification, bill estimation and financial advocacy, enabling the hospital to identify alternative sources of financial aid, such as a state or hospital charity program or Medicaid, for patients lacking resources to pay their bills.
"Establishing community-sensitive collection and financial assistance policies, investing in the necessary enabling technologies, and adjusting workflows to support new operational best practices are keys to success in overcoming the economic difficulties of our time," said Bodenbender. "Hospitals that do these things properly will find the right balance between margin and mission in the challenging new world of patient financial responsibility."
RelayHealth is the connectivity business of Atlanta-based McKesson.