CHI, Conifer Health Solutions Announce Partnership

Catholic Health Initiatives and Tenet Healthcare announced today they will partner in the ownership of Conifer Health Solutions, previously a Tenet subsidiary that has provided revenue cycle and business process management services to hospitals for more than three decades.

Through this partnership, Conifer will manage and operate the revenue cycle services for more than 50 hospitals across the nation that are sponsored and operated by CHI. Over the next eight months, CHI will transition its revenue cycle and health information management (HIM) employees to Conifer with no anticipated job losses. The employees will remain in their current locations, and will be trained and equipped with Conifer’s industry-leading processes and technology.

CHI began a restructuring of its revenue cycle and HIM operations in 2009 in response to rapid shifts in health care. As the environment continues to drive the need for dramatic change, CHI is moving more quickly to improve performance across the organization. The partnership in Conifer provides the expertise, scale and cultural alignment that CHI requires without having to build an expensive business model in-house. As part of this agreement, CHI will receive a minority ownership position in Conifer. No financial terms were disclosed.

“This is an opportunity to reduce costs and improve efficiency through a partnership with an organization that has a leading practices track record with well-established technology, tools and training,” said Dean Swindle, executive VP for business services and CFO of CHI. “As a partner with Conifer, we will develop products and services to further improve patient and customer experiences, reduce costs, and enhance revenue realization, in support of CHI’s mission of building healthier communities.”

Physician revenue cycle and patient financial services information technology are not part of this transition.

“We are excited to be working with Catholic Health Initiatives to assist them in building a strong, standardized platform to support their hospitals,” said Stephen Mooney, president of Conifer Health Solutions. “We welcome their skilled and talented revenue cycle team members into our organization and appreciate the confidence CHI is showing in us to contribute to making a positive difference for their patients and hospitals.”

About Catholic Health Initiatives: Catholic Health Initiatives is a national nonprofit health organization with headquarters in Englewood, Colo. The faith-based system operates in 19 states and includes 76 hospitals; 40 long-term care, assisted- and residential-living facilities; two community health-services organizations; two accredited nursing colleges; and home health agencies. In fiscal year 2011, CHI provided more than $612 million in charity care and community benefit, including services for the poor, free clinics, education and research. With annual revenues of more than $10.5 billion, CHI is the nation's second-largest Catholic health care system.

About Conifer Health Solutions: Conifer Health Solutions is a healthcare business process management services provider working to improve operational performance for more than 330 hospitals and healthcare entities so they can better serve their communities, communicate effectively with patients, and support patient financial administration.