$112M
Cash collected in just six months — stabilizing performance and funding future transformation
3x
Increase in A/R workforce capacity within weeks, accelerating results
$13.9M
In revised claims following corrections identified through quality reviews
PwC stabilized cash flow and uncovered systemic issues — so the client can fund transformation and build a stronger, more resilient revenue cycle
SITUATION
Facing a cash crisis — and a critical opportunity to fix the system
Where do you go when you’re acutely ill and you have no income or insurance? Fortunately, there are institutions like our client, an academic medical center whose mission is “to provide excellent and accessible health services to all in need of care regardless of status or ability to pay — exceptional care without exception.” As a premier non-profit academic medical center a very high percentage of their reimbursement comes from Medicaid. A year ago, the hospital underwent a challenging electronic health record (EHR) implementation that had created instability in the revenue cycle. The newly-appointed VP of revenue cycle realized that he had a serious cash challenge on his hands and was not sufficiently staffed to turn things around. He also suspected that there were underlying issues within the revenue cycle itself that would need to be addressed. But first, he needed to fix the cash problem.
SOLUTION
Rapid response, lasting change: Unlocking value through managed services
PwC began work with the medical center in February of 2019 with an initial placement of accounts receivable (A/R). We immediately brought in our Revenue Cycle Managed Services’ team, a group specifically set up to help clients remediate third-party, aged A/R at scale and realize more efficiency from their workforce. Within the first week, Revenue Cycle Managed Services performed a detailed analysis of the client’s A/R and cash performance across all of their payers and entities, yielding insights into how their performance could be improved. Within two weeks, Revenue Cycle Managed Services was able to focus 100 trained, experienced A/R professionals on the medical center’s A/R problem, tripling the size of their staff and significantly accelerating cash performance in less than a month. That strong cash performance has continued to date.
But that’s only half the story. At the beginning of this engagement, PwC made the decision to invest in an onsite team to study trends that Revenue Cycle Managed Services was identifying and then worked with the client to change their workflows and account distribution across their staff. PwC helped the client determine how to optimize the A/R staff and then coordinated with them to efficiently apportion the work between Revenue Cycle Managed Services and the client’s team. Weekly meetings with the client were set up to share Revenue Cycle Managed Services’ observations and help them identify performance improvement opportunities to address their challenges systematically, at the root cause.
In addition to helping with the A/R production activities through Revenue Cycle Managed Services, the team worked with the medical center to help them improve their processes and train their people. And helped create the same measurement tools internally that Revenue Cycle Managed Services used to drive workflow and productivity, with the objective of helping the client’s entire revenue cycle become highly optimized and self-sufficient.
RESULTS
$112M in and a path to transformation unlocked
In just six months, the academic medical center brought in $112 million in cash — stabilizing its revenue cycle and exceeding performance goals. What began as an urgent response quickly became a foundation for long-term change. With cash flow restored, the organization gained both the breathing room and the funding needed to invest in broader transformation.
The A/R team is now operating with improved efficiency and a clear path to self-sufficiency. Equipped with new processes, measurement tools and internal capabilities, the medical center is no longer just reacting to disruption — it’s proactively redesigning its revenue cycle to support sustainable growth and improved financial health.
TURN REVENUE PRESSURE INTO PERFORMANCE
See how PwC’s Revenue Cycle Managed Services can help you stabilize cash flow and build lasting resilience.
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