As part of its effort to ensure a sustainable financial future, Mid-Columbia
Medical Center (MCMC) will be transitioning its business office staff
to Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and University Medical
Group (UMG), the professional billing group owned by OHSU. The target
date for this transition is March 1, 2018. Patients will not be impacted.
The transition of employment has nothing to do with the performance of
MCMC’s business office. MCMC has a critical need for an expensive
new system for payer contract management, which OHSU will provide at no
additional cost.
“In order to maximize our organization’s impact on the community
we serve and ensure our future sustainability, MCMC needs to make the
best use of all available resources,” said MCMC President and CEO
Dennis Knox. “We look forward to this collaboration with OHSU, which
will benefit MCMC staff, patients and the entire Gorge community by helping
MCMC reach its goal of long-term sustainability.
The new contract management system will help MCMC report Net Revenue and
Net Collectible Accounts Receivable more accurately each month. It will
also provide a tool to insure the hospital is being paid correctly by
third party payors on every service provided. MCMC has no such capability today.
If MCMC were to purchase this critical technology, it would require a capital
outlay of $300K-$600K, with annual maintenance fees of $75K-$125K. The
transition will also save MCMC the cost of salary and benefits for leadership
positions in the business office as they become available.
Every employee in the business office will be offered a job with either
OHSU or UMG. Employees will have the option to work remotely or in an
office provided for them.
“In many ways, things will not change much for our amazing business
office staff,” said MCMC Interim CFO Edwin Bode. “Staff are
not being laid off and will have the opportunity to work from home or
in an office provided for them. On behalf of the MCMC executive team,
I would like to thank the entire business office for their hard work and
dedication.”