Background
Our client is a large, non-profit healthcare organization in the southeastern United States.They offer a full spectrum of medical services across multiple hospitals with 400 points of care and 2,300 licensed beds. Plus, they operate hundreds of beds in a joint venture.
They boast an expansive provider network that employs nearly 1,500 providers, including 750 physicians and more than 740 advanced practice clinicians. Their physician network also includes more than 2,000 independent physicians.
Summary
In June 2020, a large non-profit health system contracted Advantum Health’s Provider Enrollment Services (PES) to manage provider enrollment and credentialing for 2,000+ physicians.
A successful outsourcing implementation requires detailed planning, communication, and collaboration, even in the best conditions. Implementation teams must learn different technologies, processes, and cultures.
It can take months to implement and optimize the new organizational structure.
When the healthcare organization and Advantum Health kicked off their PES outsourcing implementation, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the two-month mark. To say the conditions were less than ideal for a smooth transition would be an understatement.
Not only did Advantum migrate thousands of the new client’s existing providers into their system, but they also swiftly enrolled critical care providers and physicians.
Challenge
COVID-19 Pandemic
The pandemic immediately tested Advantum Health and their new customer’s relationship.
Labor shortages and stay-at-home mandates pressured both leadership teams to rapidly onboard and train new clinical and non-clinical staff.
In addition to managing their teams through the uncertainty inherent to the pandemic, Advantum’s Provider Enrollment Services leaders needed to deliver the high level of service they promised to their client counterparts.
Solution
Advantum Health’s PES team and their new customer collaborated to minimize the pandemic’s disruption to their outsourcing implementation.
They developed process maps, including critical communications, to arrange a smooth hand-off from the in-house enrollment staff to Advantum’s team.
When the large healthcare system needed to enroll more contract critical care clinicians, Advantum Health added resources to submit all the necessary enrollment information without affecting other providers’ turnaround times.
Benefits
- Developed strong communication and problem-solving strategies for future emergencies.
- Worked together during a crisis and forged a strong foundation for trust and teamwork.
- Swiftly onboarded physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic.