"See"EO: Chief Executive Officer, George Lazenby, Sees All in Emdeon's Infrastructure

Take a peek behind the technology that makes innovative system monitoring possible

From his office in Nashville, Tennessee, Emdeon CEO, George Lazenby, always has a clear view. This fact has nothing to do with what he can see outside his window. Instead it refers to what he can see inside his organization. With an innovative in-office infrastructure monitoring system, Lazenby can watch all aspects of Emdeon business and service performance—in real-time, at any time. He has unobstructed visibility of every level of the company’s infrastructure, and he watches intently with the goal to better serve customers.

Even the smallest details are within view with this real-time infrastructure monitoring system. Lazenby can see how long it takes for every customer service call to be answered. He’s able to keep a watchful eye on Emdeon’s two data centers and all activities, from billing and reporting to product functions and service. If it takes more than 30 seconds for a customer service call to be answered or there’s even a slight glitch at any point in the process, he’s able to know it—and address it—immediately. And, if he’s not in front of his in-office infrastructure monitoring system, email alerts are sent directly to him should anything merit immediate attention. The monitoring is so thorough that Lazenby can drill down to any point in the vast corporate infrastructure to identify who on his team is responsible for anything he observes. And because monitoring is only valuable if the company is able to respond to issues as they are revealed, Emdeon’s infrastructure is built to provide inherent tactical responsiveness. The company can not only identify problems, but track patterns and take fast action to implement solutions.

According to Lazenby, this level of monitoring and response is the fruit of a continued concentrated focus on improving service levels across the board. The company’s IT division has successfully consolidated operations so that communications are tight, technological functions run efficiently and reliability is consistent. Of course, with the CEO constantly a click away from “seeing all,” accountability comes from the C-suite out—positively affecting performance company-wide. “Urgency is increased when the good people who work here realize addressing service and performance issues are so important that I have a monitor in my office that tracks everything up to the second,” Lazenby explains. “A proactive process emerges from this level of visibility.”

Additionally, this comprehensive monitoring has enabled Emdeon to identify and improve many things that were previously under the radar. Correlations are identified between various aspects of operations and service and can be addressed effectively. By drilling down to find issues that affect interdependent functions, Emdeon is able to eliminate causes of down time and improve reliability. “What we do is critical to what our customers do,” states Lazenby. “That’s why we invest in things like this.”

Lazenby’s in-office infrastructure monitoring system is a quick, comprehensive reference tool created expressly for the CEO. However, the goal is to one day provide customers access to similar information. That’s how confident and committed Lazenby and the team at Emdeon are regarding the integrity and transparency of service. Though sharing the infrastructure monitoring system with customers is likely a few years out, the high quality, real-time data, stats and reporting are already in place and in use—to the customers’ benefit.

As a matter of fact, Emdeon’s extensive monitoring system is the manifestation of the company’s ongoing efforts to improve its core infrastructure. Highly complex and multi-layered, Emdeon’s technology is constantly being honed to ensure near-flawless performance between divisions and disciplines. Ironically, this complexity ultimately provides transparency and simplicity for customers who enjoy such reliable service that they rarely need to think about what’s going on behind the curtain.

A peek behind the curtain reveals the vast complexities of all that goes into Lazenby’s seemingly simple, clear view. Emdeon is ceaselessly engaged in improving its technologies and service. In an infrastructure that runs deep and wide, every aspect of operations is interdependent on the other and it takes a skilled and committed team to navigate the challenges and opportunities that technology brings. “Of course, customers have no need to worry about all that,” Lazenby summarizes, “with this, they know we’re on the case...providing integrity of service.”

With that kind of viewpoint, it’s quite clear. Emdeon is committed to simplifying the business of healthcare no matter how complicated that process may be.


Overall Technology Strategy: Emdeon has long been committed to quality management in IT with the goal of 100% reliable performance and efficiency of operations. Already, the company has achieved near Six Sigma levels of sustained performance/service while containing costs. This strategy is a core differentiator for Emdeon with its customers.

Data Center Consolidation: Emdeon now operates two world-class data centers (rather than several locations), geographically distant from one another and equipped with the highest levels of security and functionality possible with today’s technology. These facilities are fortified to sustain operations even in the most extreme scenarios (i.e. - natural disasters).

Solutions Availability Reporting: With an unwavering goal of 100% uptime, Emdeon tracks and reports uptime for the company’s core infrastructure. This valuable information is used company-wide to influence strategies and tactics focused on reliability.

Business Activity Monitoring through Technology: As previously described, Emdeon has advanced its monitoring capabilities to not only watch and respond to issues by division; the company now monitors company-wide interdependencies, in total view and in real-time. In addition to constant assessment of IT infrastructure, Emdeon has added Call Center monitoring to ensure impeccable frontline service.

Use of Ticketing: To achieve uninterrupted uptime, it is essential to do more than trouble shoot. Emdeon utilizes a ticketing system to denote and resolve issues while creating a reference for historical resolution. This approach helps to identify patterns and root causes and institute long term solutions.

IT Service Management (ITSM): Emdeon has implemented ITSM to proactively lead the company to new heights in technological service. With a goal to earn ISO certification and implementation of a comprehensive information security framework by end of year 2010, Emdeon’s ISTM team is focused on integrating procedures that intrinsically improve IT operations, maximizes internal resources and ultimately provides the best service for customers.

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You don't need one more partner. You need one partner that does more.

Find out why at HFMA ANI

Visit booth 519 at HFMA ANI in Seattle June 14th-17th to find out how with Emdeon you can do more. View a demonstration of our end-to-end Revenue Cycle Management solutions and we’ll give you a $10 Starbucks gift card and register you for a chance to win a Vespa! Also, come by our booth to hear more about top of mind healthcare industry topics and case studies presented by our customers! At the end of each speaking session, we will also be drawing for a $500 AMEX gift card.

Realized Benefits of Web-based, Real-time RCM Solutions
Presented by Al Payne
Revenue Cycle Manager for Martha Jefferson Hospital
Monday, June 15th, 1:30 p.m.

Workflow Improvements Driven by Automated Claim Status Capability
Presented by Maribeth Jenquine
Vice President of Revenue Cycle for Universal Health Services
Monday, June 15th, 4:30 p.m.

Reducing Denials through Real-time Eligibility and Benefits Verification
Presented by Lyman Sornberger
Executive Director of Patient Financial Services for Cleveland Clinic
Tuesday, June 16th, 1:30 p.m.

Single Vendor Approach to Healthcare
Presented by Carol Plato Nicosia
Administrative Director of Corporate Business Services for Martin Memorial Health System
Tuesday, June 16th, 4:30 p.m.

Don't forget to attend the Patient Financial Services/Revenue Cycle breakout session at HFMA ANI titled An Integrated View of Transparency within the Revenue Cycle (E11) on Wednesday, June 17th, 10:15 to 11:30 a.m. In this session, you will hear key industry stakeholders weigh in on the impact of transparency in healthcare as well as discuss the future of achieving true transparency in our healthcare system among providers, payers and patients.

Visit us online for additional information about Emdeon activities at HFMA ANI.

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White Paper Exposes Healthcare Administrative Waste

Practical steps for cutting healthcare costs through existing infrastructure & collaboration

The U.S. economy transmits over 18 billion electronic payments each year, yet approximately half of all healthcare financial transactions are still paper-based. Costs of paper, printing, postage and labor for manual processes in healthcare are estimated to add up to nearly $30 billion a year in waste. As healthcare reforms are considered in Washington and in all 50 states, administrative savings represent a bright spot—low-hanging fruit—that could help pay for longer-term reforms.

To help inform this dialogue, Emdeon, in cooperation with the Center for Health Transformation, unveiled an important white paper at the HIMSS 2009 Annual Conference in April. The white paper, Taking the Paper Out of Paperwork: How Electronic Administration Can Save The U.S. Health System Billions, looks at the gaps in the industry that keep it dependent on manual processing—and offers practical steps for breaking this costly and inefficient cycle. "In these trying economic times, combined with the specter of unsustainable spending, Medicare insolvency and runaway growth in Medicaid, we must find those IT solutions that can not only save lives but can also lower costs," said Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, founder of the Center for Health Transformation. For more of the Speaker's message, view the video foreword to the white paper.

"It's not about infrastructure," says George Lazenby, chief executive officer of Emdeon. "The infrastructure is there, and the technology exists. All the constituents are looking for ways to optimize their business processes." Among the barriers cited are lack of integration, lack of complete standards, competing priorities between stakeholders and a perceived lack of value to healthcare providers. "We see higher adoption of electronic healthcare transactions when they meet the needs of both providers and payers," said Lazenby. "It's about making the information available at the point where decisions need to be made."

The white paper provides a step-by-step roadmap for both payers and providers and highlights best practices that are delivering tangible results today. This pragmatic approach leverages technology and infrastructure that already exist—and provides a vision for a new kind of industry collaboration. Recommendations outlined in the white paper include:

For Providers:

• Keep abreast of federal funding opportunities for health information technology

• Include process re-engineering for an electronic end-to-end eligibility, claims and payment process in electronic medical record (EMR) implementation strategies

• Work with medical societies and specialty groups to advance national standardization goals

For Payers:

• Develop and pilot reimbursement programs that reward quality healthcare practice and results, including electronic information exchange

• Ensure all future information technology development is done according to industry standards

• Collaborate around multi-payer functionality, understanding that providers want a single resource for interacting with health plans

Download the whitepaper.

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Emdeon Assistant Achieves HFMA Peer Review Designation Two Years in a Row

Industry experts honor Emdeon's automated patient eligibility and information verification solution

On May 19, it was announced that Emdeon Assistant, after intensive review, has earned the Peer Reviewed designation of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) for the second year in a row. HFMA Peer Review designation puts Emdeon Assistant in a short list of prestigious solutions that have been proven to be beneficial by industry expert volunteers and independent HFMA staff based on a range of key performance criteria as established by HFMA. All products presented for assessment must meet predetermined standards in areas such as product effectiveness, quality, overall value and customer support to earn the Peer Reviewed designation. With this year’s assessment of Emdeon Assistant, all scores for the predetermined standards improved even further from last year.

An automated solution

Emdeon Assistant automates key patient registration processes and delivers real-time eligibility and benefit verifications to save time while increasing revenue. Emdeon Assistant easily interfaces with most existing registration systems and channels efficient search requests to Emdeon contracted carriers with responses generally returned in seconds. By accessing a wide range of information from available payers and credit bureaus, Emdeon Assistant helps providers create a clear, non-discriminatory picture of a patient's ability to pay in an easy-to-read format.

Simplifying the Business of Healthcare

"We understand that consumer-directed healthcare and other trends in healthcare are putting pressures on the front-end of the revenue cycle," said Philip Hardin, Executive Vice President of Provider Services for Emdeon. "We are working with the hospitals to provide them with the tools they need to identify insurance eligibility and benefits, the sources of funds and determine the patient's ability to pay self-pay balances prior to or at the point of care."

To learn more about the HFMA Peer Review designation and how Emdeon Assistant can help you do more for your healthcare business, call us at 877.EMDEON.6 (877.363.3666), or visit us online.



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Making Payments a Win-Win Situation

Financial counseling tips sure to help your bottom line and your patients' health

The unstable economy and fundamental shifts in how healthcare services are paid have left many providers and institutions with outstanding patient accounts and increasing bad debt. The effects are being felt throughout the healthcare industry as patients are increasingly unable to pay for their care, often through no fault of their own.

MSNBC reported in December of 2008 that of a survey of more than 700 hospitals across America, two thirds had seen overall admissions and elective procedures fall while half had seen a moderate to significant jump in non-paying patients. The financial shortfalls these organizations see often end up hindering upgrades in the equipment and facilities needed to give patients the absolute best care possible.

So how can your healthcare business beat this trend and reduce the amount of money lost on under payments and non-payments while everyone is feeling the crunch? Emdeon has some tips to keep you ahead:

• Be up-front: It's more important than ever for your staff to consult with self-pay patients before the delivery of care. Talking with patients early helps keep everyone on the same page, and it allows the patient to focus on recovery following a healthcare procedure instead of making difficult financial decisions. Some facilities even realize a clear rise in patient satisfaction, as reported in HFMA's Strategies for Reducing Bad Debt.

• Focus on your people: Experienced staff who understand the complicated healthcare payment process are invaluable when it comes to communicating with patients. If financial counselors do not have prompt and quick answers that are sensitive to each patient's unique situation, it is difficult to get the cooperation needed to secure information as well as payment. Increasing training and reducing turnover are key steps you can take to improve your payment performance.

• The simpler, the better: If providers are being told to think of patients as consumers who can shop and choose where they go for care, then it's important to learn a few things from the retail industry. Specifically, the easier the process, the more a consumer is likely to comply. Facilities across the country are offering discounts for prompt payments, convenient online billing and payment and flexible payment plans that don't stretch patients beyond their means; all of these methods can benefit both providers and patients.

• Put information to work for you: Technology available including financial counseling solutions can share critical information across multiple departments and facilities so that your staff can make the correct decisions that lead directly to more payments. From organizing and confirming the accuracy of patient information to scouring charity care and government programs for reimbursement options, these tools can improve your financial performance in areas even the best manual procedures can't touch.

Providers and decision makers at every level of the healthcare industry are recognizing that as consumerism continues to rise and more payment responsibilities shift to patients, the way the business of healthcare is conducted needs to change. Today's financial counseling is all about providing options, keeping it simple for patients and finding avenues of payment in any place possible. With the right staff, sound procedures and the right solutions almost any facility can see an increase in their collections, which in the long run allows for better delivery of care. That's a win-win for everyone.

To find out more information and see how Emdeon can help increase your efficiency and profitability, call 877.EMDEON.6 (877.363.3666).

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Discovering Effective Strategies for Determining and Communicating Patient Payment Responsibility

The following is an important excerpt from the recent HFMA Roundtable titled Patient Payment Responsibility: Real-world Perspectives

As patients continue to shoulder greater financial responsibility for their healthcare, the desire for meaningful pricing information is increasing. Although transparency of a hospital’s charges can be useful, it also frequently fails to reflect what is top of mind for the patient out-of-pocket expense. In this HFMA Executive Roundtable, financial executives share their thoughts on effective strategies for determining and communicating patient payment responsibility prior to service, with particular focus on practical challenges as well as opportunities.

What are some of the benefits associated with providing estimates of payment responsibility prior to service?

Philip Hardin: Growing numbers of uninsured or underinsured and trends toward high deductibles mean consumers are more concerned these days regarding cost burdens associated with their health care. Providers are facing increased requests from patients to understand their fee structures, particularly as self-pay patients seek the best value among competitors. Given this retail environment, it becomes important for providers to not only communicate potential financial responsibility prior to service but also ensure this communication is consistent.

Setting payment expectations from the outset with patients is increasingly necessary to improve collections. If you look at most hospitals, typically the self-pay component may be only 5 percent to 6 percent of total net revenue, but it’s driving 16 percent to 17 percent of the outstanding accounts receivable, resulting in self-pay having a disproportional impact on the cash flows and financial performance of the facility.

Patrick O’Connor: From a customer service standpoint, reducing the element of surprise in billing and collecting is important. When we present an estimate to a patient, there is an opportunity for discussion of financial need and our charity care program. We have a very liberal charity care process: if your income meets certain guidelines, then the hospital will waive the balance up to the total charge. All we require is completion of an application and attestation of financial need.

In the past, patients might not have found out about these services or been aware of their eligibility for them until months after treatment. With up-front discussions, patients’ concerns are eased from the outset that they won’t be facing a bill beyond their means to pay. Also, they won’t be as likely to postpone care when they know they have a financial resource to help them. Since moving this discussion to the front end of patient interactions, we’ve seen the adoption rate for our financial assistance program quintuple over the past two years. This shift also helps the hospital, as accounts eligible for charity care are less likely to end up being mistaken for bad debt.

Rodney McCoy: Ensuring completeness and accuracy of the patient’s billing information is eased for the provider when financial communications occur prior to service. A lot of issues that impede cash flow coming out of patient access are due to bad data, such as inaccurate mailing addresses or incomplete eligibility or financial assistance information. If you can get this information up front, then you have time to make sure everything is correct prior to the patient receiving service. When you are not able to receive this information until the day of the procedure, you are far less likely to identify a need to obtain or verify information—much less collect payment—while the patient is still on site. And after service is provided, it is far more difficult to locate patients and have these communications.

What advice would you offer other providers looking to provide patients with advanced estimates of financial responsibility?

Tony Morrison: Knowing your contracted rates is key. Your charges really don’t tell the whole story, the contracted rate does. Patients aren’t concerned with what is being charged for the procedure so much as the expected out-of-pocket portion that they will be responsible for based on the contracted rate. Having the necessary contract information current and easily accessible for staff is important.

Philip Hardin: The patient financial management team must work closely with IT so they can agree on what the objectives are and what data need to be accessed. Regarding advanced estimates, in order for up-front collection strategies to work, there is a need to integrate information with the patient accounting system. Retail payment capabilities, such as online payment, require highly integrated data. Therefore, it’s important that various teams work together.

Penny Nydegger: It’s important to recognize that providing estimates requires both a change in culture and processes. We’ve worked hard to educate everyone that assisting patients so they reach financial clearance is not only part of our mission but also key to financing our future. In terms of addressing processes, our approach has been gradual and has been aided considerably with adopting appropriate technology. We have improved point-of-service collections by 40 percent since we started providing estimates two years ago.

Participants in this HFMA Roundtable:


Philip Hardin
Executive Vice President of Provider Services, Emdeon

Suzanne Lestina, CHFP, CPC
Manager of PFS/Revenue Cycle, Healthcare Financial Management Association

Rodney McCoy, CPA
Director of Patient Access Services, St. Dominic's Hospital

Tony Morrison
Director of Patient Financial Services, Sanford Health

Penny Nydegger
Director of Patient Access, BroMenn Healthcare System

Patrick O'Connor, MBA, RN
Executive Director of Revenue Cycle, Lake Forest Hospital

To find out more about Patient Payment Responsibility: Real-world Perspectives, read this report in its entirety.

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New Payers on Board

The Emdeon network of payers continues to grow

Emdeon connects you and 300,000 other providers to 1,200 payers, the nation’s largest network. We’re constantly adding new payers to this network, giving you even greater reach for real-time eligibility and benefits verification and electronic claims submission. View our complete payer list online to make sure you’re taking advantage of Emdeon’s connectivity today. The more payer connections you access through our network, the quicker you can begin receiving accurate reimbursements, reducing write-offs, and improving first pass acceptance rates.

We have recently added the following payers:

• American Behavioral Benefits- Claims
• AmeriChoice of New Jersey, Inc (Medicaid NJ)- Claims
• Benefit Management, Inc of Kansas- Claims
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City- Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• Blue Cross of Rhode Island- Eligibility
• Cenpatico South Carolina- Claims
• Community Medical Group of the West Valley, Inc- Claims
• Eastland Medical Group- Claims
• Entrust- Claims
• Idaho Medicare A- Eligibility
• Insurance Management Services- Claims
• InterCare Health Plans, Inc- Claims
• Korean American Medical Group- Claims
• KPS-Kitsap Physician Services- Eligibility
• Lakeside Comprehensive Healthcare- Claims
• Lakeside Medical Group- Claims
• Meridian Health Plan- Claims
• MHNET- Claims
• MMA- Claims
• NHBC 07- Claims
• NHBC 08- Claims
• NHBC 09- Claims
• NHBC 10- Claims
• NHBC 11- Claims
• PHCS Savility Payers- Claim Status Inquiry and Response
• PHCS Savility Payers- Claims
• PHCS Savility Payers- Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• Physician Associates of the Greater San Gabriel Valley- Claims
• Sanford Health Plan- Claims
• Select Benefit Administrators, Inc- Claims
• UniCare- Eligibility Inquiry and Response
• Verdugo Hills Medical Group- Claims
• WellPath- Claims
• West Covina Medical Group- Claims
• Wisconsin Medicaid- Claims
• Wisconsin Physician Services (Midlands)- Claims

See the full list >>

Return to Sender

Reduce your undeliverable and return mail

Did you know that according to the United States Postal Service, 17% of Americans change addresses annually? Whether it's for business, family or personal reasons, as a society we are on the move and changing mailing addresses more often than ever before. The unfortunate side effect of this is that more and more pieces of important mail are being classified as undeliverable and returned to the sender because of outdated addresses. For providers, this can mean a painful increase in bad-debt and self-pay cases where no new address is available.

Collection agencies can sometimes help recover the otherwise lost revenue by utilizing highly complex skip tracing methods to find the person, but the added overhead can greatly reduce any potential benefits. Additionally, return mail can create a time-consuming task for your staff which takes them away from focusing on patients and delivering the best care possible.

Eliminate return mail handling

Emdeon Return Mail Manager can eliminate 100% of your return mail handling and help find up-to-date addresses for most mail marked undeliverable. Instead of mail being returned to you, it is sent directly to our facility for analysis and to initiate skip tracing. Once we find the up-to-date information for that person we can automatically remail the documents. After remailing, we then provide you with a detailed report of the status of each account, including a custom file format available for forwarding directly to your revenue recovery partners.

With the power of Emdeon Return Mail Manager you can make sure that more of your statements and communications are delivered, which can lead to collecting more self-pay revenue quickly and efficiently. Your staff can also save time by not having to deal with time-consuming and frustrating return mail related tasks. So the next time you see a stack of return mail or go over those painful self-pay losses, remember that Emdeon Return Mail Manager is the affordable and efficient way to make sure you connect with the most patients possible.

Eliminating return mail handling is just one of the ways we’re Simplifying the Business of Healthcare. To learn more, call us today at 877.EMDEON.6 (877.363.3666) or visit online.




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