West Des Moines-based UnityPoint Health says it will cut 207 information technology positions later this year and make an unspecified additional number of job cuts in its revenue department as it prepares to outsource those functions.
The Wednesday, April 15, announcement follows similar cuts in March at central Iowa’s other major private health care provider, MercyOne, where 67 jobs were eliminated in the revenue cycle department. Those revenue employees manage the financial aspects of health care, from patient registration to final payment.
Major UnityPoint facilities in the Des Moines metro include Iowa Methodist Medical Center, Iowa Lutheran Hospital and UnityPoint Methodist West Hospital in West Des Moines. In all, the nonprofit employs 31,000 people, with 18 regional hospitals and more than 420 clinics throughout Iowa and portions of Illinois and Wisconsin.
Kevin Kirkpatrick, senior media relations specialist for UnityPoint, declined to comment on which of the organizations would experience staff reductions or how many of the positions to be cut are in central Iowa.
“We are not able to share this information, but location was not the primary driver of these decisions,” Kirkpatrick said in an email. “Our focus is on transitioning select functions to a third-party vendor to help UnityPoint Health leverage advanced technologies, reduce costs, and improve the overall user experience, while maintaining local leadership oversight, governance and accountability for these functions.”
The company, in a news release, emphasized that the IT and revenue cycle functions were selected for outsourcing to minimize the impact on direct patient care, leverage technology advancements, and improve the overall user experience.
“Expanding clinical services and patient access points remain a top priority as the system realigns its IT and revenue cycle services to better match current and future needs,” the release said.
The vendor for the IT transition is Accenture, a multinational technology company based in Dublin, Ireland, and with operations in 52 countries, including India and the Philippines. As the transition evolves, some employees may have opportunities to find jobs with the vendor, said Kirkpatrick.
The vendor for the revenue cycle transition is Omega Healthcare, based in Boca Raton, Florida, and with operations in India, the Philippines and Colombia. UnityPoint is in the early stages of the transition process and has yet to gauge how many revenue jobs will be affected, according to Kirkpatrick.
Cuts come in ‘period of sustained financial pressure,’ CEO says
Affected employees will be provided with severance, benefits continuation and career transition support, the UnityPoint release said, and leaders are working directly with affected workers “to ensure clear communication and a respectful transition process.”
“Like many health systems across the country, we are navigating a period of sustained financial pressure that requires us to make difficult but necessary decisions,” Scott Kizer, president and CEO of UnityPoint Health, said in the release. “Our focus is to ensure we remain strong for the future — so we can continue delivering expert, high-quality care and expand local access for the patients and communities who depend on us.”
When announcing its March cuts, MercyOne’s parent company, Michigan-based Trinity Health, said it was facing an annual revenue reduction of $1.5 billion as the result of pending government funding policy changes as well as reductions to coverage, payment and access to Medicaid and Medicare.
UnityPoint said the restructuring of its IT and revenue cycle functions are similarly driven by major forces within the industry.
“Like many health systems across the country, we are navigating a period of sustained financial pressure driven by a number of factors, including rising labor, supply and drug costs, reductions in reimbursement, and increased demand for complex care,” Kirkpatrick said.
“Each organization is responding to those pressures in ways that best support their long-term sustainability and commitment to the people and communities they serve,” he said. “For UnityPoint Health, these targeted changes are about ensuring we can continue providing high-quality, local care and remain strong for the future.”
Kevin Baskins covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at kbaskins@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: UnityPoint Health outsourcing to eliminate hundreds of jobs
Reporting by Kevin Baskins, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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