Complex Landscape of Third-Party Extended Business Office Services Offerings Complicate Selection Process

OREM, UT, May 10, 2011 (Press-News.org) Just as there are a variety of services offered by business process outsourcing (BPO) firms, there is a wide variety of firms from which providers can choose. With the profusion of factors to consider, the in-depth performance analysis of the major players detailed in the new KLAS report, "Extended Business Office Services: Money Talks," is an invaluable resource to providers looking to outsource business services.

The 90 healthcare providers surveyed--75 percent of whom were either director- or executive-level respondents representing healthcare facilities of all sizes--identified a total of 21 firms they currently employed, of which ten firms received enough evaluations to qualify for inclusion in this report.

"The services typically rendered by these third-party firms, along with how well they perform and drive value, are important considerations for providers to review carefully when selecting a third-party firm for Extended Business Office Services (EBOS)," explained Lorin Bird, KLAS research director and author of the report.

The services discussed in the report range from temporary project -based work, such as netting down A/R or handling batches of legacy receivables, to continual assistance with things like financial clearance or ongoing A/R follow-up, especially with regard to a specific insurer, age, or dollar amount. The firms in this report can be categorized into four groups, based on the types of services they provide to most of their customers: consulting firms (Deloitte and PwC), BPO firms (Cymetrix and Firstsource), end-to-end outsourcers (Anthelio and Dell), and technology vendors (MedAssets).

According to "Extended Business Office Services: Money Talks," Anthelio (PHNS), Firstsource, and Dell demonstrated the greatest breadth and depth of services, while the other firms offered more specialized services. Cymetrix, PwC, and Deloitte offered mostly private insurance collection and some government follow-up. MedAssets' work was mainly insurance and self-pay.

"The business office services market is complex, and EBOS contracts are often multi-year and multi-million dollar arrangements." Bird added, "A healthcare organization must sift through dozens of these firms, some of which may not have experience in serving facilities of a certain size or offering the services providers need. Understanding what firms can do and how they do it is the key to making the right selection(s)."

The top-rated firm in this report, with an overall performance score of 92.7, was PwC. Though noted as being slightly more costly than other firms, PwC's performance and delivered value were determined to far outweigh the cost. Clients universally praised their financial performance, and viewed PwC as a strategic partner willing to do whatever it takes to generate results and meet expectations. Firstsource (MedAssist) came in next at 86.3, followed closely by Deloitte Consulting with 84.7. Findings about ACS, Anthelio, Cymetrix, Dell, HRG, MedAssets, and NCO are also included in the report.

Although providers mentioned prior relationships with a firm, or the firm's state/local experience as two of the biggest reason to select a particular BPO firm, in the final analysis it comes down to who can keep accounts receivables low and cash collection high; money still talks the loudest.

For more information about the Extended Business Office Services market, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of measured firms, "Extended Business Office Services: Money Talks" is available to healthcare providers online for a significant discount off the standard retail price. To purchase, healthcare providers and vendors can visit www.KLASresearch.com/reports.

KLAS is a research firm specializing in monitoring and reporting the performance of healthcare vendors. KLAS' mission is to improve delivery, by independently measuring vendor performance for the benefit of our healthcare provider partners, consultants, investors and vendors. Working together with executives from more than 4,500 hospitals and over 2,500 clinics, KLAS delivers timely reports, trends and statistics, which provide a solid overview of vendor performance in the industry. KLAS measures the performance of software, professional services and medical equipment vendors. For more information, go to www.KLASresearch.com, email marketing@KLASresearch.com or call 1-800-920-4109 to speak with a KLAS representative. Follow KLAS on Twitter at www.twitter.com/KLASresearch.