Case Study: CHP
Collaborative Health Partners Enhances DPC Program with Accresa
Introduction
Collaborative Health Partners (CHP) works with employers to implement direct primary care (DPC) programs aimed to minimize financial barriers that prevent employees from seeing a primary care physician. Through their partnership with Accresa, CHP has grown their DPC program and reduced manual processes, which has allowed them to expand their services to more employers and improve the member experience for thousands of individuals across Virginia.
- 120 hours saved on manual enrollments and billing
- ½ FTE headcount saved through process improvement
- $35,000+ in fee revenue saved from one employer group
- 30-60 day member eligibility blackout period reduced to 0 days
About Collaborative Health Partners
Collaborative Health Partners is a physician-led, integrated network of clinics that provide direct primary care services to employees and employers across Central Virginia. CHP aims to improve access to preventive care, sick care, wellness resources, and physician-directed disease management services at no out-of-pocket costs to the employee. Their innovative approach helps maximize businesses’ overall healthcare costs and provide a higher level of care that gives employees more direct, individually-focused, and custom access to their primary care provider.
The Challenges CHP Faced Before Accresa
CHP already had extensive experience creating and managing direct primary care programs before Accresa. In fact, their reputation as a leader in the DPC space earned them a contract with one of Virginia’s largest universities, Liberty University, to offer a direct primary care program to their over 7,000 employees.
To build on this success, CHP began searching for a platform that could streamline their processes in order to reduce time-consuming administrative work and enhance the member experience for their DPC offering. Not only did they want the right technology platform, but they needed a responsive, flexible team to develop innovative solutions to tackle their biggest challenges around member enrollment, invoicing, and clinic payment allocations.
Liberty University – Lynchburg, VA
Manual Enrollments and Invoicing
CHP had a full-time employee devoted to manually tracking DPC enrollments and invoices on a spreadsheet. They also utilized a system to initiate the enrollment process for new clients and patients, but it lacked capabilities such as tracking payments and invoicing which was their top priority. Additionally, CHP issued employer payments to a single tax ID and reallocated those payments to multiple clinics based on the member’s primary care physician selection. Without an easy system to track primary care selections, CHP found it difficult to allocate funds to multiple practices accurately.
Blackout Period Prevented Members from Accessing DPC Benefits
Each month, CHP had to manually notate medical charts, prepare invoices for each of their employer groups, and pay partnering clinics individually. At times, they were paying three different clinic partners who had three different bank accounts. Because it was such a time-consuming process, CHP needed at least 10-11 days at the end of each month to confirm the eligibility of members, create invoices for the employer, and make sure payments were ready for the 1st of the following month. As a result, members who didn’t enroll by the 20th of the month had to wait nearly two months to use their DPC benefits, even if they were already eligible.
Missed Revenue Opportunities
The blackout period not only hurt the customer experience by preventing members from accessing their primary care physician, but it meant that CHP and their provider partners missed out on their cut of fee revenue for 2+ months for each member. In the case of Liberty University, who employs over 7,000 workers, CHP could have lost nearly $35,000 in fee revenue had they not changed their process.
Why Accresa?
In addition to Accresa, CHP evaluated another DPC platform that ultimately couldn’t deliver the same capabilities or level of service Accresa had to offer. CHP’s decision to pursue Accresa was a no-brainer for them. “We chose Accresa because of the prompt follow-through and transparent pricing they provided,” said Lauren Bennett, VP Experience & Business Development at CHP. CHP appreciated how eager and quick the Accresa team was to come up with solutions. Bennett went on to say, “The team for the other solution we explored was too slow to respond. Accresa was fast, and I appreciate the relationship they built with us early on. The team has been prompt, innovative, professional, and helpful.”
“The Accresa team listens – they have openly received our feedback and turned our needs into solutions. We’ve appreciated their timely follow-up and willingness to be innovative with us.”
Lauren Bennett
VP Experience & Business Development
Results
“Accresa has removed the manual elements of enrollment, invoicing, and clinic payment allocations. We experienced results in two months.”
CHP currently utilizes Accresa to administer their DPC program for member enrollments, invoicing/ payment collection from employers, and payment distribution to their CHP network providers. They also use the platform to track primary care physician selections and manage real-time enrollments and terminations.
After implementing Accresa, CHP has been able to:
- Remove the manual elements of enrollment, invoicing, and clinic payment allocations
- Perform timely billing and distribute immediate payments
- Eliminate the member blackout period
- Provide clients with accurate reporting
- Run real-time enrollments to any provider
- Reconcile payments to clinics with any bank account instantly
The Numbers:
- 120 hours saved annual on manual enrollments and billing
- ½ FTE headcount saved through process improvement
- 2 months of fee revenue payments saved
- 30-60 day member eligibility blackout period reduced to 0 days
CHP and Accresa are collaborating on the next evolution of their DPC offering with the goal of reaching more employers throughout Central Virginia. “Our goal is to add more clients in the next 6-8 months and look forward to Accresa being part of that expansion,” said Lauren Bennett. “If you’re looking for a partner that will flex and adjust with your growing DPC program, look no further than Accresa. Their customer service is top notch and they’re not afraid to think outside of the box!”
