Kerr Youth and Family Services Saw Immediate Return on Investment

Challenge:

Inefficient technology and paper processes limited Kerr’s ability to operate

Solution:

Kerr YFS implemented CareLogic to automate service capture and claim generation

Results:

CareLogic paid for itself in 2 months by increasing agency revenue and decreasing the accounts receivables 
balance.

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Like so many behavioral health agencies, the Youth and Family Services division of Albertina Kerr Centers in Portland, Oregon is challenged by the inherent complexity of its business. The complex payer environment coupled with the agency’s dated paper-based records and billing system caused a significant discrepancy between services provided and claims collected. The agency needed a more integrative, efficient process, but did not have the resources to invest in an expensive, on-premise EHR and billing system.

After learning that the CareLogic platform provides the power and flexibility of an on-premise system but at a fraction of the cost and with no hardware investment required, the agency selected CareLogic.

Billing more

“Since the implementation of CareLogic, our revenue for our outpatient and community-based programs has increased by 35 percent,” marvels Jennifer Woods, assistant director of performance improvement and compliance. The increase adds $420,000 to the $1.2 million in annual revenue for these programs and to the total $8 million in annual revenue for the division. The financial boost is a result of CareLogic’s ability to automatically and accurately capture all client encounters; every increment of case management is now recorded and billed.

Getting paid faster

Additionally, the elimination of billing errors inherent to a manual system has resulted in a dramatically reduced denial rate decreasing the time required to collect on each claim. By reducing its AR balance by 25 percent, the agency immediately put an extra $260,000 into its bank account. Furthermore, the agency reduced its average days to collect for fee-for-service revenues by 33 percent, from 75 days to 50, meaning the agency gets paid on average 25 days faster.

The bottom line

Implementing CareLogic has enabled the agency to maximize its billed revenue and collections while increasing its cash flow through decreasing its accounts receivables. Together, these industry-leading financial benefits mean the agency recouped its investment in CareLogic within two months of the agency’s go-live for all program services.